


Locked Rooms and Odd Couples

by madsthenerdygirl



Category: Castle
Genre: F/M, More of my teenage writing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-23
Updated: 2016-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-28 14:33:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply, Underage
Chapters: 7
Words: 23,780
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6332881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madsthenerdygirl/pseuds/madsthenerdygirl
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Alexis has been kidnapped, and Beckett and Castle must race against time to save her. Meanwhile, Alexis has problems of her own… and not the kind you'd think.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Acclumation

**Author's Note:**

> Originally published on fanfiction.net at the end of 2011 when I was seventeen, this is a part of my project to edit and crosspost all of my stories to Ao3. That said, laugh along with me at my teenage writing skills.

Alexis stirred slightly, bringing one hand up to rub her forehead. Everything around her was blurry and she blinked a couple times to clear her vision. When she did, she almost wished she hadn't.

Sitting bolt upright, she gazed around at her surroundings. She was lying on a thin, dirty mattress in a dark room--judging by the thin shafts of light lazily dancing through slats high above her she was in a basement of some kind. She backed up slightly and bumped her back against a thick wall made of… was that concrete?

"She's awake."

Alexis whipped around, her red hair spilling over her back and shoulders. She squinted in the near-darkness, trying to see who had spoken. Shadows danced around the large room but she couldn't tell if any of them were cast by a person.

"Who's there?" Alexis asked. She was pleased with how even her voice sounded, despite her racing heart.

"She sounds demanding," someone chuckled.

"Shut up. You'll freak her out." The person who replied was definitely the first person who'd startled her.

Before Alexis could demand that they show themselves, someone stepped into the pool of thin light near Alexis' mattress. Her eyes widened a little when she saw who it was.

"Benny?" Alexis asked.

Alexis' classmate, often teased for her boyish name, grinned at her. "Hey, Alexis," she said, giving her a wide, infectious grin. Benny always gave the impression that she just couldn't help smiling.

"What are you doing here? Where are we?" Alexis asked, standing up. She immediately stumbled as a wave of nausea hit her.

"Whoa, I wouldn't try to do that just yet. It took me a good hour or so to stop feeling woozy every time I moved." Benny warned. She hurried forward and helped Alexis sit back down.

"Thanks," Alexis said, rubbing her head. "Why do I feel that way?"

"First, tell me what you remember; then I'll fill in the rest," Benny replied.

"Mind if I cut in?"

A tall boy, a good couple inches taller than either girl, walked over to them. He had dark blonde hair that flopped all over the place, and piercing green eyes that gave the impression he was seeing through whatever he was looking at. Despite the fact that Benny's eyes were gray and her hair lighter, no one could have mistaken them for anything other than brother and sister.

He quickly appraised Alexis and she noted that although he had a wiry frame, he was not hurting in the muscle department. She fought a blush.

"Oh, yeah, right, sorry," Benny apologized with a roll of the eyes. "Alexis, this is my bother--I mean, brother, Emmett. Emmett, this is Alexis; you know--the genius who stopped me from failing Biology."

"I know," Emmett said. His voice was smooth and on the edge of a drawl, with a deep tremble to it that hinted at the timbre it would take on as a man. "I've seen pictures."

"Pictures?" Alexis was surprised at how embarrassed she felt.

"On Facebook--just group pictures."

"Gee, that wouldn't be from when you hack my account, would it?" Benny asked sarcastically.

"It's your fault for leaving your computer unguarded." Emmett shrugged.

Benny rolled her eyes again before turning back to Alexis. "So, would you mind telling us the last thing you remember?"

Alexis glanced at Emmett. While Benny had seated herself next to Alexis, he had made no move to sit. Instead, he stood casually, with his hands in the back pockets of his jeans. He looked like he was relaxing in a bar instead of standing in a weird basement place.

Concentrating, Alexis did her best to remember the last thing she did before waking up here. The morning was easy to remember--she'd had breakfast with her father, and Beckett had called with a case around eight. Dad had dashed off and Alexis had gone to…

School? No. No, she hadn't gone to school. She went to…

"The museum! I went to the museum," she said. "I went to meet some classmates there for… a project, of some kind. Something to do with royalty… oh, yeah, we had an assignment about comparing the lifestyles and status symbols of royalty throughout history."

Emmett snorted. Alexis glanced at him out of the corner of her eye, and caught Benny glaring at him.

"I was at the museum that day, too," Benny said. "I saw you down the hall. My group was studying women's role in society throughout history."

Alexis nodded. "Yes, we were put into groups and were going to present on different days. I remember we went into the Greek wing, and I think we went into the Egyptian…"

She frowned, remembering. She didn't remember being around anything Egyptian, but she knew they'd talked about it… wait–

"No, we didn't go into the Egyptian wing. We were going to go in there next, but I said I had to use the restroom."

In her mind's eye, she could see the white marble floors and the door of the women's restroom. It was just to the left of the water fountain, and the men's restroom was on the other side of the fountain. She'd pushed open the door, gotten a glimpse of the stalls, and…

"Do you remember anything after that?" Benny prompted.

Alexis shook her head. "No. The last thing I remember was entering the restroom. I remember pushing the door open, stepping in… the door was still open… I got the impression that it was empty…" She shook her head again, trying to clear her thoughts, but nothing came to her. Her shoulders slumped a little. "No. That's all."

Benny shot Emmett a triumphant look. "That's the last thing I remember, too. I was with my group, and we were in the Renaissance area--I told one of the girls I had to use the restroom, I went to the same one that you did, and the next thing I know I'm waking up here with only Bansky here for company." She jerked her thumb at Emmett.

"You do realize I take that as a compliment, not an insult," Emmett said. "An insult would be Mr. Brainwash."

"Thanks for the tip," Benny shot at him.

Alexis frowned. "How long have we been out? Do you know?" She asked.

Benny thought for a moment. "Well, judging by the position of the light coming through those slats up there, I'd say I woke up sometime around noon. I was next to you, actually, on the mattress. Emmett was over on the floor a few feet away. I managed to wake him up, but we got into an argument over whether to wake you up or not."

Alexis quirked an eyebrow. "Am I really so terrible to be around that you didn't want me waking up?"

Benny grinned. "I have to say, you're taking this pretty well. Emmett here was worried you'd freak out." She leaned forward and stage whispered. "He clearly doesn't know you."

Emmett made a sound that might have been a snort.

"What about you?" Alexis asked, looking at him. "Do you remember anything?"

"Last thing I remember, I went to use the little boy's room--next thing after that was my sister slapping me awake." He flashed a lopsided grin that had an edgy quality to it. It sent a strange shiver down Alexis' spine.

Alexis thought a moment. "Do any of you have phones or watches on you?" She asked, feeling in her pockets for hers. She was still wearing the clothes she'd worn while at the museum; a pair of tight blue jeans and a deep green long-sleeved sweater with a rolled top that, when rolled all the way, offered a bare neck and a peek at her shoulders. She was glad she'd chosen to wear her sneakers--walking around the museum was not the best situation for wearing heels or boots.

Benny and Emmett shook their heads. A quick search of her pockets revealed that her phone was gone, and her watch (a birthday present from her dad) had been taken, as well. There was no use looking for her wallet; it had been in her purse, which had most likely also been taken.

"Any idea what time it is now?" She asked.

Emmett examined the light coming through the slats near the (impossibly high) ceiling. "I'd say around four in the afternoon, maybe five."

Alexis nodded, digesting this information. "That's good. We've been gone for a few hours--our classmates will have definitely noticed we're missing by now, even if our parents haven't."

Emmett made that half-snorting sound again. "Well that's good, because the 'rents would never notice."

Benny shot Emmett another look, but Alexis sensed that there was hurt as well as annoyance in that one. She decided to tactfully ignore it.

"My dad is a consultant for the police," she explained. "He was actually working a case when I left that morning. He knew where I was going, but if I remember correctly we were only supposed to be at the museum until three. He'd be expecting me to text or call and let him know where I was after that. Once he sees I didn't do that, he'll be able to get someone on our case right away."

"Wait--isn't your dad that mystery writer? The one who wrote those books based on an actual NYPD Detective?" Benny asked.

"That's the one," Alexis said. While she might occasionally take issue with her father putting his life on the line, she was proud of his writing and the work he did at the 12th.

"I haven't had a chance to read the books yet, but I know there's a movie coming out and I can't wait to see it. I actually planned on going to the library today to pick them up," Benny said, her eyes gleaming with excitement.

Alexis couldn't help the grin that overtook her features. She loved it when people liked her father's books. The crazy fans made her uncomfortable and if people when on and on it became embarrassing, but generally she enjoyed it.

"I hate to interrupt the bonding going on here, but I'd like to find a way out and a way to eat," Emmett said.

"I'll try and stand up," Alexis said. She rose slowly, fixing her eyes on one point, and stood up without any problems. "It appears to have worn off." Then her forehead puckered as a thought struck her.

"You mentioned you were woozy for about an hour, after you first woke up," she said slowly. "And we don't remember anything…"

She quickly felt along the back of her neck and along her arms for any puncture marks. "Somebody check my back."

"You think we were drugged?" Benny asked.

"It's the only explanation as to why we don't remember anything and why we felt sick. I'd say we were knocked unconscious but I don't feel any lumps or have a headache." She turned around. "Now, if someone could check me…"

She heard the firm step of someone--it had to be Emmett, Benny was too light to make that noise--stepping towards her, and then felt his warmth breath tickle the back of her neck. A surprisingly large but gentle hand pushed her shirt up, and she felt goose bumps form where the cold air hit her skin. Another large, warm hand touched her back. The fingers were slightly rough, especially the pad of the pointer finger, but they were gentle and dexterous. They ghosted along her skin, and an entirely new form of goose bump formed wherever they touched.

"I see it," Emmett said. His voice was loud enough that Benny could hear it, but there was a strange, slightly high pitched note in it that hadn't been there before. "It's a puncture wound of some kind--from a needle or something."

"What does it look like?" Alexis asked.

His palm rested against her lower back, just above her jeans, then slide along the skin to cup her side with a firm but oh so gentle touch. His thumb rubbed gently at the sore spot, making tiny circles, and Alexis suddenly had to fight the urge to arch her back and push further into the touch.

"Well there's the puncture wound, of course--it's a dark red color--and the skin around it is slightly red, too. There's some kind of light bruising just below the mark, like someone had to hold you down or was a little too rough." Was it her imagination or did his voice lower slightly on the last few words?

"Is it swelling?" Alexis asked, swallowing.

"No, it looks fine, other than the bruise. Do you feel anything--any stinging or tenderness?" Emmett asked. He ran his hand gently along her back, around the mark.

This time Alexis did arch her back slightly. The feel of his hand sliding along her skin in that slow, sensuous way was waking up tiny dots of electricity in her skin. "No, I feel fine; just a slight itch where the mark must be." Her voice sounded overly light and airy.

"We must have the same marks too, because my lower back has been itching ever since I woke up," Benny said, stretching on the bed and scratching in said spot.

Emmett's hand pressed firmly against her back and he slid over to her side, grasping it firmly for one second before he let go and pulled her shirt back down. Alexis immediately missed the feel of him touching her, the warmth and gentleness and the strange electric sparks they awakened.

"Do me?" He asked.

Alexis spun around, her cheeks flushing, and saw that he was indicating his shirt. "Oh, yes, right, got it," she stumbled.

Emmett's eyes danced wolfishly and his mouth twitched, showing he knew exactly what had her flustered. Alexis gave him her best stone-face glare. She'd perfected it on her dad.

Emmett turned around and Alexis raised his shirt up. He was also wearing jeans, and she was glad to see that they hung properly on his hips, complete with a belt instead of hanging absurdly low like some boys wore them. He wore a long sleeved white shirt and a dark blue t-shirt on top of that. Both fit him well and showed off his muscled arms nicely.

He was a little more tan than she was, but his skin was surprisingly soft and supple where she touched it. He had a puncture mark on his lower back, just to the right of his spine and above his butt, in the same place that hers was. She touched it tentatively, her fingers dancing light trails along his skin.

She felt Emmett suck in a breath. After a beat she stepped closer, so that her chest was only a few inches away from his back. She touched the spot more firmly, sliding her small fingers over him. The wound looked the way Emmett had described hers--a red puncture mark with a slight red color to the skin around it due to irritation. Unlike her, however, there was no bruising.

"Does it hurt?" She asked.

"No. Just a light itch." Emmett's voice was strained.

Alexis knew that she should step away now, but her hand had apparently developed its own brain independent from hers, and slid further along his skin. It was warm and smooth, and she found herself wanting to touch more of it, feel it under her fingers…

Her hand ghosted up higher, and she realized that she was dangerously close to taking his shirt off completely. What had come over her? She wasn't ever like this.

Clearing her throat, she stepped back from Emmett, letting his shirt fall back down. "You seem fine to me," she said, hoping she didn't sound as awkward as she felt.

Emmett turned around, and there was something dark and hungry in his eyes that sent another shiver shooting through her system. Then his gaze cleared and that lazily cocky look returned. "Thanks, 5.0," he said, giving her that lopsided grin.

"What?" Alexis was confused.

"5.0--you know, like the GPA score."

"I know what 5.0 is. I want to know why you called me that."

"Because you have a 5.0; you're the queen of overachievers," Emmett replied, that absurd grin still firmly in place.

Alexis decided to take the high road and ignore him. Her GPA was 4.8, as a matter of fact, something that irked her. She'd been taking on so many extra credit courses in an attempt to raise her GPA that she was getting hardly any sleep at night, but she was certain it would help her attain that elusive 5.0 she needed to help her get into Stanford.

She still wanted to go, Ashley or no Ashley.

Pushing her ex-boyfriend firmly out of her head, Alexis sat back down next to Benny. The girl was playing with her short blonde hair, which she'd cut into a chic almost-bob.

"We have to find a way out of here. I'm not sitting around until help arrives."

"What makes you so certain that help will arrive? We don't even know why we're here," Emmett pointed out.

"I like it." Benny got up as well. "It's better than playing 'I Spy' or something to pass the time. I hate that game," she confided, "And everyone in grade school always wanted to play it. It drove me nuts."

Alexis grinned. She'd never gotten to know Benny too well, but liked her well enough. It looked like the girl would be a good comic relief for their current situation. No matter how funny Benny was or distracting--and rude--Emmett was, the fact remained that they were in dire circumstances. She had to find a way out.

She only hoped that her father had noticed her disappearance by now.

* * *

Beckett turned from the murder board and wrinkled her forehead at Castle. He had been silent the entire time she'd briefed Ryan and Esposito, not offering up his usual theories. She'd missed him interrupting her and finishing her sentences.

Castle was staring at his phone, frowning, his lips and forehead puckered in that adorable way of his. His stare was too intense for him to simply be researching, and his fingers weren't on the touch screen, so he couldn't be playing Angry Birds or some other ridiculous game.

"Something on your mind, Castle?" Beckett asked.

"It's nothing, just…" Castle trailed off for a moment before speaking. "It's Alexis. She went to the museum today to meet up with the rest of her classmates. They've all been divided into groups to give presentations, and the school is letting them run around the museum for the day. She left when I did, which was around eight, and she texted me to let me know she'd arrived around eight thirty. She said that they would be finished by three, and that she'd let me know if she was going back home or to a friend's house.

"So?" Beckett asked. "Everything okay?"

"She hasn't called or texted me," Castle said. "I just checked with Mother, and she hasn't contacted her either. It's four o'clock. Alexis is always good about checking in, she never forgets to update me."

"Maybe she just got caught up in something," Beckett suggested.

Castle shook her head. "If it was Mother, sure, but not Alexis; she's always been the responsible one, even more than me. She's the one who instituted the 'check in' rule in the first place."

"Try calling her," Beckett said, settling down at her desk to go through some of the case files. Castle got up and headed down the hall to make the call.

After a moment he returned, worry etched into every line on his (ruggedly handsome) face. Beckett mentally slapped that errant thought.

"She didn't answer--I called four times. As a matter of fact, it went straight to voicemail." Castle's tone was calm but there was an underlying panic that was unmistakable. Beckett idly wondered whether that was the tone he'd used when asking about her in the hospital after she'd been shot, but she slapped that thought away, too.

Beckett frowned, and both Ryan and Esposito looked up from their desks. The two junior detectives looked at each other. That was almost the same thing, word for word, that they had told Captain Gates when they'd tried to call Castle and Beckett the day they'd been kidnapped and handcuffed together.

Beckett was thinking the same thing, though from the perspective of the person who'd had their phone stripped.

"I'll call it in," Beckett said, standing up and grabbing her jacket. For anyone else she'd say they were just being paranoid, but with Alexis… the girl was a sweetheart, and the most caring and responsible person that Beckett knew. She wouldn't do anything that caused her father to worry, and she wasn't the type to forget to charge her phone and let it die on her.

Castle hurried after Beckett as they made their way to the door. "You two keep working on identifying our John Doe," she instructed Ryan and Esposito. "We'll be back as soon as we can."

"And just where do you two think you're going?" Captain Victoria "Iron" Gates stood in the doorway of her office, her arms folded.

Beckett and Castle both froze, with Beckett's mouth hanging slightly open. "We, uh, were just… going to get something to eat," she said quickly.

"Hmmm." Gates said, as if to say she didn't buy a word of their crap. "Do we have an I.D. on our victim?"

"Working on it, Captain," Esposito said from his desk.

"We already hit the morgue so we're just running through missing persons and all until we get a hit," Beckett explained. "We'll be back in about twenty minutes."

"See that you do," Gates said. Beckett and Castle turned to go, but the captain stopped them again. "And if you get a crazy idea in your heads and take off, you call it in. One near brush with a tiger is enough for me. Is that clear?"

There was no arguing with Gates--there was a reason for that damn nickname. "Yes, sir," Beckett said awkwardly, nodding tightly. She still hadn't found her rhythm with her new boss.

As they headed towards the elevator, Beckett leaned forward and whispered in Castle's ear. "This had better be legitimate, Castle, or I'm hauling you all the way back to the precinct by your ear."

"Then allow me to say in advance…" Castle said as they stepped into the elevator, "Apples!"

The doors shut with a light thump.


	2. Just Don't Kill Each Other

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're really curious to see what I was like as a teenager in fan fiction, go to my profile on ff.net and read my stories there. You'll see all of my original chapter notes. Complete with lots of squealing. *shudders*

Castle rocked on the balls of his feet the entire elevator ride up to his apartment. Beckett glanced at him from the corners of her eyes without moving her head. She'd quickly adopted this method for staring at Castle whenever she didn't want anyone to know she was staring at him--in other words, all the time.

She tried to reassure him. "Castle, I'm sure she's going to be fine. It'll all be a big misunderstanding."

The elevator doors opened and they stepped out, Beckett following Castle as he practically power-walked over to his apartment door. He inserted the key in the lock and turned it, pushing the door open.

"Alexis!" Castle called, entering the apartment. "Alexis, honey, are you home?"

Beckett followed him, heading towards the stairs. "I'll check upstairs, if that's all right."

Castle nodded distractedly.

Beckett hurried up the stairs, peering into the guest bedroom, bathroom and Alexis' room. She avoided the closed door that led to Martha's bedroom--there was most likely no way Alexis would be in there, and she would have felt rude looking in.

Alexis' room made her pause. It was decorated in a very soft pink, with black accents. The bed frame was made of black walnut, and held a few clearly beloved stuffed animals on it along with a plethora of plump pillows. Something coiled tight in Beckett's chest as she gazed about the room, and a wave of nausea swept over her. Alexis better be all right, or so help her…

"It used to be pink and white."

She hadn't even heard Castle come up behind her, and she turned slowly. He was gazing into the room, his eyes a little moist. "We changed it to pink and black a few years ago, to make it more sophisticated."

"It worked," she said slowly, swallowing. She'd rarely seen Castle as anything other than energetic, and even when he was serious she'd never seen him this close to tears.

"I just got a call from one of Alexis' teachers. Apparently, she told Paige she had to go to the bathroom and never came back." It was as if the words were choking him on their way out of his mouth.

The tight coiling in Beckett's chest slithered up and began to squeeze her guts, forcing air out of her lungs and creating a terrible vice on her stomach.

"I'll put in a call."

She stepped out into the hallway, trying to ignore Castle as he stood dejectedly in the doorway, gazing into his daughter's room. She pulled out her phone and made the necessary calls.

"No, that won't be necessary. Yes, that would be great. I'll be handling the investigation myself." Out of her peripheral vision she saw Castle sit down on the edge of Alexis' bed.

"Thanks, Espo. Get down there and start interviewing. I'll hit the museum and scope it out, see if there are any clues. Tell Gates whatever the hell you want, but I want everyone on this. Uh-huh. Yeah, I owe you guys one. Call me when you're finished. Bye."

She terminated the call and put her phone back in her pocket. She turned, looking over at her partner. Castle looked so forlorn and distressed, and she knew this was tearing him up inside. Beckett approached him. She wanted to hug him, but opted instead for sitting next to him on the bed.

"Hey…" She said gently. Castle didn't stir, didn't look at her. His hands were resting on his knees. Beckett placed her hand over his own. Slowly, Castle raised his eyes to her. There was so much hurt and fear there that Beckett fought back a gasp. Beckett knew that this was only half as bad as she'd looked when talking about her mother and a new wave of gratitude for Castle swept over her.

"We're going to find her," she whispered. She squeezed his hand, using her thumb to gently rub little circles at the juncture where his thumb and forefinger met.

Castle nodded slowly. "I hope so." He swallowed dryly. "You put yourself on the case."

"Yes."

"You're not missing persons; you're homicide."

Beckett nodded.

Castle looked at her, and despite the tears threatening to spill his cornflower eyes were steely. "You are going to be in severe trouble with Gates for this."

"Damn Gates." Beckett was surprised with the intensity with which she said it. "Even if I didn't care about Alexis--which I do--I'd still do it to help you out."

Absently, almost subconsciously, Castle flipped his hand so that he was holding hers. He mimicked her motions, rubbing tiny circles in her palm with his hand. He opened his mouth as if to speak, but then closed it, offering up a weak smile instead.

Beckett realized how close to each other they were. The almost magnetic pull she felt towards Castle whenever he was around intensified and she stood up. If she'd spent any longer that close to him, like that, she would have kissed him.

She kept holding his hand, though, using it to pull him up to stand next to her. She remembered when they'd been handcuffed together and forced to hold hands to make it more comfortable. She would never admit it, but she'd gotten used to the feel of his hand in hers, and had to stop herself from reaching for his hand once they were away from the tiger and back home. Now that she had the chance to hold his hand again, she really didn't want to let go.

Castle cleared his throat, and Beckett became aware that not only were they still holding hands, but they were standing unnaturally close. In fact, if she leaned forward she'd be able to press her lips to his neck, just above his collar…

"Let's go, Castle," she said, whirling around and dropping his hand. Burying herself in her work had always proven to be the most effective form of ignoring personal problems, and so she did that now.

It didn't help that her stomach was in knots from fear of what Alexis was going through.

* * *

"Do you feel anything?" Alexis called.

The three of them were feeling along the walls for any cracks or weak spots that they could break through. Benny had made a few 'hidden door' jokes.

"If you find a secret passageway, I will call you Nancy Drew," she'd warned, grinning. "You certainly have the hair."

They were sweeping the walls, one person per wall, but they'd found nothing.

"There's nothing over here," Benny called. "And I'm finished with my wall."

"Nothing over here either," Emmett called. "What about you, Shortcake?"

One more nickname and she was going to kill him. She was sure she could get it labeled as justifiable homicide.

"I don't have anything," Alexis said. "I guess it's just the door on the far wall, then."

On the far wall there was a set of stairs that led up to a door. Although they had examined every inch of it and strained against it, the thing was solid and wouldn't budge.

"So what do we do? Just sit here and wait for someone to cut off our ears?" Benny asked, walking back over to the mattress and plunking down onto it. The mattress was the only bit of furniture in the room.

"Let's find a light switch--there has to be a lamp around here somewhere," Alexis said, feeling around.

"Who put you in charge?" Emmett asked.

"I'm not in charge. I'm simply making suggestions. Do you have any bright ideas?" Alexis asked. She shook her head at the wall. "I don't see a light switch anywhere."

"Hey Miss Prissy, look here." Emmett pointed upwards.

Hanging from the ceiling was a thin chain. He yanked on it, and the room was flooded with light as a large, industrial grill lamp turned on. It swung a little, casting writhing shadows that danced grotesquely for a moment as they basked in the glow of the light.

"Don't call me that." Alexis said, trying to sound calm.

"Hey, I have to entertain myself somehow." Emmett replied with an easy grin. Every time he grinned Alexis felt something tug at her; she hated it.

"Maybe you could be doing something more productive?" She suggested.

"Like what?" Emmett asked, stepping closer to her.

Was it just her or did the temperature of the room suddenly rise a couple degrees?

"Like trying to find a way out of here, for example," she said calmly.

Emmett laughed and took another step towards her, closing more distance. "Take a look around you, 5.0. These people are professionals. They kidnapped us in a public place, stripped us of all identification, and haven't killed us yet. Can you say 'professional kidnappers'? They can't take any chance of us escaping, or they lose their ransom."

Alexis opened her mouth, and then closed it. Annoying and bordering on arrogant in his attitude he may be, but Emmett was more intelligent then she'd given him credit for.

Not that she'd tell him that.

"No plan is foolproof. I was hoping there was something that they had overlooked," she said, trying to hide her annoyance.

"I know how it's not foolproof," Benny joked. "They didn't know the parents of the kids they were kidnapping."

Alexis laughed. "They'll have the NYPD on their tails in no time."

"She wasn't talking about your dad," Emmett said shortly. He stalked over to the stairs and sat down, his back to them.

Benny sighed and shifted uncomfortably on the mattress. Alexis quirked her eyebrow questioningly, and then when to sit down next to the girl.

"Is everything okay?" Alexis asked.

The other girl pushed her short hair behind her ears. "We don't exactly have Hollywood poster parents. Sometimes I think Mom forgets that we exist."

"I'm sorry," Alexis said honestly. Despite her father's shortcomings, he had been an amazing parent to her and they were very close. On the other hand, Alexis had never really had a mother in her life--Meredith didn't count, she was more of a DNA provider then a mother--so she could sympathize with Benny.

"It's worse for Emmett then me; Dad's always pressuring him when he's not caught up in work," Benny said. "I just get ignored but Emmett gets lectures."

Alexis bit her lip and looked over at Emmett, who was scuffing his feet along the concrete stairs. "I didn't know," she said lamely.

Benny shrugged. "It's okay. It means that if we are being held for ransom, our parents will just pay it and not put up a fuss. We'll be out of here." She grinned again. "Unless your dad's cop friends storm the place first which, I have to admit, would be pretty cool."

Alexis smiled tentatively. She trusted her father's intelligence and sleuthing skills, and she also trusted Beckett and the team, but she still worried. Whoever had kidnapped them had the daring to do so in a very public place--they must have been confident enough in both their plan and their abilities to pull it off. She only hoped they all weren't in over their heads.

Her train of thought moved from the police in general to Beckett. Alexis really admired Beckett; she was an amazing cop and a great person, and she'd overcome so much. But Alexis also didn't appreciate the pain that she put her dad through. Was Beckett really that blind to emotions that she couldn't see how much her dad loved her?

On the other hand, Beckett had always been good to her. She'd insisted that Alexis call her Kate, for one thing. That wouldn't have been much--women were always trying to be buddy-buddy with her so they could impress her father. But Beckett hadn't followed it with any attempts at bonding or speeches about what a special friend to her Alexis' father was. She just asked that Alexis call her Kate.

Then there was how she included Alexis. Whenever her father was dating someone, Alexis got shut out. The women wanted to spend time with her father, not her, and she'd never been included. Her dad had done his best to include her, of course, and kept everything polite and private, but still; it ate at her. And then Beckett, whenever she came over to the loft, treated Alexis like an equal. She'd even make Christmas cookies with Alexis last year.

But then came the shooting, and the shut out, and her father hadn't heard from Beckett for four months. Four months of watching him tear himself up inside, lost and wandering, like some sort of cursed spirit. She'd hated that, couldn't stand to be around it, so she'd spent the summer taking extra courses and spending all of her time at the museums that peppered NYC like zits on a teenage boy.

She'd hated Beckett. She'd hated her for abandoning them--and then she'd wondered why  _she'd_  felt abandoned, when really, only her father had any right to feel that way. Her father was the one in love with Beckett--so why did she feel like she'd had something precious torn from her?

And then… then came the bank robbery. Standing there, helpless, knowing that the two people who had been her world were trapped inside. Panic had risen in her like some filthy swamp bile, and the very air she breathed choked her.

Then Beckett was there.

Even though she'd seen her only for a moment, just long enough for Beckett to shove her behind the yellow police line, she'd felt calm and safe. Beckett would take care of things. She'd save her father and Gram.

It wasn't until later, at dinner, that Alexis realized she'd also seen fear in Beckett, and that had also calmed her, knowing that Beckett actually cared. The way Beckett and her dad had looked at each other over the table, the way they made each other laugh… and the fact that, after this case, Beckett had come home with him. She'd come home and she'd shared dinner with them, fit in so wonderfully like a piece of the puzzle that they hadn't known was missing.

That was when Alexis knew that Beckett loved her dad.

And that was when she got mad at her all over again.

* * *

"Okay, thank you." Beckett turned away from the security guard and back to Castle. "We'll have full access to the video footage. Security cameras are trained on all of the bathrooms, so we'll be able to see who went in before Alexis."

She sat down in one of the desk chairs in the museum's security office as the head of security and other members moved out of the way respectfully. Castle leaned over Beckett's shoulder to watch the footage, placing his hand next to hers on the desk to steady himself. His chest was inches from her shoulder and his head was directly next to hers. She drank in his scent like it was water and she was a dying man in the Sahara.

Mentally shaking her head clear of such thoughts, Beckett pressed the play button. She fast forwarded through the video feeds until she saw Alexis enter one of the restrooms on the ground floor. Her stomach clenched at the sight of her, so young and carefree, vanishing from sight.

"There!" Castle said as she hit pause.

Rewinding the video, she hit play. Alexis walked over to the restroom, entering it and vanishing inside.

"Okay, now we wait until she comes out," Beckett said.

Only Alexis didn't come out. A few minutes later a cleaning person left with their cart, a closed trashcan and various cleaning materials piled on it.

Beckett turned to the head of security while Castle continued to watch the video feed. "I'm going to need to interview your cleaning crew."

The man shook his head. "I'm sorry, Detective, but that's not our crew. The cleaning crew comes in at six, an hour after the museum closes. They usually finish up around eleven or so, and then they leave. We have regular museum staff do a restroom check every hour or so just to restock toilet paper or whatever, but that's it. No one should be cleaning the restrooms."

Beckett whirled back to pause the video, but Castle had evidently been paying attention and had already rewound it. They watched again as someone dressed as a cleaning crew worker left the restroom, wheeling a cart stocked with a trash can, towels and supplies.

"They left the restroom exactly five minutes after Alexis went in," Beckett noted.

"Is it just me, or does that cart look heavy to you?" Castle asked, pointing.

Sure enough, the person appeared to be straining to push the cart. While they were in total control of the cart and weren't overly exerting themselves, it was still clear that its contents were heavy.

"That would have to be one full trash can to make them push that hard," Castle observed.

It hit them at the same time, and they turned to each other. "She's in the trash can!" They shouted at once.

Despite their circumstances, Beckett couldn't help the grin that spread over her face.  _Connected_ , as Castle had once said gleefully; she'd burst his bubble by replying with "conjecture," but he was right. They had something.

Beckett turned back to the video, rewinding to when the person first exited the restroom and paused it. "Can you see their face at all?" She asked.

Castle shook his head. "They're facing away from the camera."

Beckett frowned. "I guess we're just going to have to go back on the video and find when they entered."

The security guard watched the two working with amusement. They were quite the odd couple, but they seemed to work well together. It was so cute to see coworkers that dated.

* * *

"How is it that out of all the people in our class they could have kidnapped, they chose the most pig-headed, annoying, arrogant, lazy, cocky jerk in the entire school?" Alexis demanded, shouting.

"Probably the same way they picked the most stuck up, stubborn, narrow-minded, insufferable, prissy goody-two shoes!" Emmett shouted right back at her.

"You know, this is one instance where I wished the movies were real. I would have no problem getting rid of you to evade a trap," Alexis said, trying to stop herself from shouting and failing miserably.

Their argument had started when they were talking about school and the subject of foreign languages had come up. Alexis knew French, Latin, Spanish, was learning Chinese. Emmett knew Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, and was learning Farsi. Benny knew Spanish from the housemaids but that was the extent of her knowledge.

"You forgot one," Emmett had said when they'd finished.

"What's that? English?" Alexis asked.

"No: prissy," Emmett deadpanned.

The fight had only escalated from there.

"Whatever you two do, don't kill each other," Benny grumbled from where she lay on the mattress, watching the proceedings. "If you two die the kidnappers will blame me for losing their ransom money, and our parents will blame me for letting their kids die."

Both Alexis and Emmett ignored her in favor of stepping closer to one another and arguing some more. Benny rolled her eyes.

"If you two ever get captured by the mob, you'll be their favorite victims. You two will murder one another and do their job for them," she muttered. She stretched out and lay down on the mattress. "I don't know about the odd couple here, but I'm going to sleep," she announced, turning on her side away from them.

Neither Emmett nor Alexis heard her. They were too busy insulting each other in various languages.


	3. Bonding

It was midnight, or close to it. There was no way to tell from the shafts of silver-blue light coming through the slats above them. Having practically shouted themselves hoarse, Alexis and Emmett collapsed against the wall next to the mattress. Benny laid spread eagled on the mattress itself, making an occasional small noise as she shifted in her sleep.

Alexis sat with her knees up against her chest, her arms wrapped around them. Emmett sat next to her in the same position. They said nothing, sitting there staring into nothing. Strangely, Alexis didn't feel tired. She rested her head on her knees, looking out into the dark room. They'd turned the lamp off long ago.

Something said earlier tugged at Alexis, and she swiveled her head to look at Emmett. "Who's Bansky?" She asked.

Emmett treated her to a lopsided grin, the first one in hours, and Alexis felt that tug again. She tried to ignore it.

"He's a street artist--and a pretty damn amazing one. He had this one show that included an elephant."

"And Mr. Brainwash?" Alexis asked.

"He's another street artist. Well, kind of, it's a long story… did you ever see  _Exit_ _Through_ _the_ _Gift_ _Shop_?" Emmett asked.

Alexis shook her head.

Emmett turned so that he was facing her and launched into an explanation of the independent documentary, eventually explaining about street art in general. It turned out that he was a bit of a street artist himself, often sneaking out at night to paint his art along alley walls.

"I figure those walls are pretty ugly just as bricks--why not spread art, give people something fun and interesting to look at?" Emmett explained. His entire face was blazing, like someone had set a candle inside.

"That explains the callous on your index finger," Alexis said. The words were out of her mouth before she even realized that she was thinking them.

Emmett looked down at his hands. "Yeah, that's from pressing down on the pump for the spray paint cans," he explained, a little sheepish. "How'd you…?"

"When you were touching my back," Alexis explained, hoping he couldn't see her blush in the darkness.

Was it just her imagination, or did Emmett blush as well? He certainly shifted uncomfortably. Hoping to ease the tension, Alexis asked him more questions, and soon they were chatting animatedly. They moved on from street art--and art in general--to films. Apparently Emmett was a huge fan of indie films. Alexis, on the other hand, loved documentaries.

She was quickly realizing that she'd misjudged him. Emmett was rebellious and gave off a cocky air, yes, and he was wildly different and independent, but she liked it. She liked it a lot. He was still intelligent and thoughtful, but at the same time he made her laugh and made her think in ways that Ashley hadn't.

Wait--when had she started comparing Emmett to Ashley?

She really needed to talk to someone about this. She'd gone from hating Emmett to liking him (as a friend, her mind screamed) to comparing him to Ashley? Where was Beckett to talk to when she needed her?

Okay, now she was looking to Beckett for advice?

She needed to get out of here before her brain got even more addled.

* * *

Beckett's brain was more addled then scrambled eggs in a bowl. It was one o'clock in the morning, and she was over at Castle's loft because the precinct wasn't an option. The boys had managed to fend off Gates, but she didn't know how long they'd be able to keep it up. Not to mention that the first 24 hours were the most important in a kidnapping case and they'd gotten hardly anywhere. And did she mention that Castle was experiencing more mood swings then a drunken teenage girl?

"Castle, if you do not stop pacing you will not only wear a hole in the floor but I will personally handcuff you to your office chair," Beckett snapped.

"Is that a promise?" Castle said with a hint of his old teasing tone.

"It's not a promise, it's a threat," Beckett assured him, fighting to keep the smile off her face. It was the first joke he'd made all day.

They'd managed to trace all the appearances made by the fake cleaning crew--there appeared to be two of them--as they'd made their way through the museum. They had gone into the women's bathroom twice and the men's bathroom once, each time emerging from them and heading down the hallway to the loading exit in the back of the museum.

"What I still don't get," Beckett said, frowning as she watched the video play out (they'd burned copies and were now viewing them on the projection screen), "Is why they went into the women's twice but the men's only once."

She rewound and played the video of the abductor entering the men's bathroom. A moment later another one entered the women's. They both left five minutes after they'd entered, heading back to the loading entrance.

Castle walked back over to her and peered at the screen. "It's interesting how first one, and then the other, goes in, but they come out at the same time," he said slowly. "You'd think they'd plan to both go in and come out together, or go in and leave separately."

"Well, maybe they just messed up on the timing."

"Yes, but everything else was timed out perfectly: the van that was waiting in the loading area--the one we saw on the security footage--choosing the bathroom nearest the van so they would have to travel the least amount of distance to deposit the cargo, leaving exactly five minutes after they nab their victim…"

"Wait!" Beckett turned to face him. "The victim!"

She whirled around and re-played the video. "When Alexis vanished, the person was already inside the bathroom, see? They entered right before she did, and left exactly five minutes afterwards. But this time…"

The video showed the fake cleaning crew member enter the men's restroom. A minute later, a boy walked towards the bathroom, but stopped before entering. He bent down and took a drink out of the water fountain. While he was doing so, a girl walked into view of the camera. She stopped and started talking to the boy. They talked for a moment, and then both the boy and the girl went into their respective restrooms.

A minute after that, the other cleaning crew member entered the girl's restroom. Exactly five minutes after that, both cleaning crew members emerged, pushing the carts concealing their victims.

"It's because of the boy and the girl! The kidnapper must have heard them talking and called the other one to come and get the girl," Beckett said. "The only problem is I don't see why…"

"Wait--zoom in on their faces," Castle instructed.

Beckett did so. They could now see the faces of the boy and the girl talking. The video was in black and white so they couldn't see any hair or eye color, but the girl had short hair in a kind of bob, and the boy was wiry but fit.

"I know those kids! They're classmates of Alexis's."

"Castle, we already knew that."

"Yes, but these aren't random classmates. They're Benny and Emmett Manson--they're brother and sister."

Beckett turned, their eyes meeting. A smile lit up her face and she saw Castle's eyes dancing with that old gleam.

"So it wasn't that they were talking…"

"It was that they were brother and sister…"

"And so she'd know if her brother was missing if she didn't see him after the restroom…"

"And that left the kidnappers no choice but to kidnap her as well!"

"So the one in the men's restroom who overhears their conversation realizes their relationship and calls his buddy…"

"Who shows up and enters the restroom…"

"That would be a huge risk because the girl wouldn't be as caught off-guard or someone else could be in there with her…"

"But it was a risk they had to take to avoid being discovered."

"So they knock out the siblings and leave at the same time to make sure they have the right people…"

"Deposit their victims in the van and leave!"

Beckett and Castle grinned at one another. She loved it when they did this--when they were so in sync that they could finish one another's sentences, bouncing ideas and words off of one another and gaining momentum as they did so.

"So they most likely didn't plan to take three people--they probably only wanted a boy and a girl, because after they took Benny and Emmett they left the museum," Castle said.

"This is a good thing, it shows that they've already messed up once in their plan. They've already been forced to improvise, to take a risk. This means that they could mess up again, make a fatal error," Beckett said.

"But we still–"

There was the sound of the mail slot on the front door rattling, and both Beckett and Castle turned. A white piece of paper fluttered to the floor.

They dashed towards it, stumbling and tripping over each other in a manner completely unbefitting an experienced NYPD cop and a sophisticated member of NYC's highbrow society. Beckett flung the front door open just in time to see the elevator doors close. Drawing her gun, she dashed for the stairs, racing down them two at a time at a speed that would earn her a broken neck if she tripped.

She burst into the lobby of Castle's apartment building just in time to see the elevator doors open and the doorman step out. He was the only one in the elevator.

Beckett hurried over to him.

"Emilio, right?" She asked.

The man turned and smiled at her, as he continued to walk back to his post at the lobby desk. "Yes. Miss Beckett, I presume?"

Beckett nodded curtly. She'd been to Castle's apartment enough for them to know each other's names, and Emilio had always struck her as a nice, amiable man. But tonight, things were different. Alexis' life might hang in the balance, and it was the hard-nosed cop, not the Rick Castle's friend, who took the helm.

"What were you doing dropping off a letter in Richard Castle's apartment?" Beckett demanded. She put her firearm away in its holster. She doubted the man was armed.

Emilio looked surprised that she was so demanding. "I was asked to drop it off as soon as possible, so I went up and did so. I assumed it was a letter or something."

"Who gave it to you?" Beckett asked.

"A man of about medium height--he had tan skin but I think he was white--and broad, boxy shoulders. He had brown eyes and a large mouth. He kept his voice very low and his head down--oh, and he was wearing a hooded sweatshirt. He kept the hood on the entire time."

Beckett nodded. "Any distinguishing features?" She asked.

"Well, this might seem odd to you, but his eyes were… well, they were larger at the bottom than the top."

The corners of Beckett's eyes crinkled as she tried to make sense of this. "Could you sketch him for me?" She asked.

The doorman reached into the lobby desk and pulled out a pad and paper, sketching for a moment before handing the picture to Beckett. Emilio was a pretty good artist--this sketch would be good enough to use to scroll through the database.

Beckett could also see what the doorman was talking about. While the top half of the man's eyes were almost flat, with no arch, the lower part of his eyes had a deep dip, giving off the strange impression that someone had put his eyes in upside-down. Beckett took the sketch. "Thanks, Emilio. I appreciate it."

The doorman nodded, still looking confused, while she dashed back upstairs.

When she got there, she found Castle at his kitchen island, using a Ziploc bag to examine the letter that Emilio had dropped off.

"Someone gave the letter to the doorman, who dropped it in the letterbox for you," Beckett explained. "I have a sketch he drew for me, so we can run it through the system. What's the letter say?"

"It's typed up from a computer," Castle explained, holding it up so that Beckett could see. She walked up to him, peering at the letter. "It's a ransom letter," he added, and Beckett could hear the tightness in his voice. She unconsciously put her hand up and rubbed his shoulder as she read the letter.

_Mr. Castle,_

_By now you have undoubtedly noticed the disappearance of your daughter. We have her in our custody, safe and well. However, that condition may not continue. To show that you are willing to do business with us, leave this letter in your mail slot tomorrow morning. Instructions will follow._

It was unsigned.

"I can scan it for prints, but I doubt we'll find any," Beckett said.

"This letter sounds very professional. It has proper grammar and spelling, it's typed out on a computer, it's short and to the point, and it's also rather generic," Castle observed.

He turned, and because Beckett had her hand on his shoulder they found themselves almost pressed against each other. Only a fraction of an inch separated their chests.

Beckett tried to ignore the rush of heat that swept through her.

"You're right," she said, releasing his shoulder and stepping back. "The person didn't waste time with threats and it did sound generic; the name at the top could easily be replaced with another and 'daughter' substituted for son."

"That, plus the sophistication of the letter suggests that these are professionals," Castle agreed.

"So they must have done this before., Beckett said, seeing what he was getting at. "They've done it enough times to send a professional letter…"

"To time out a kidnapping so well that even when there's a hiccup they create a new plan with barely a hitch…"

"To know how to keep their backs to security cameras…"

"And figure out how to stay anonymous…"

They looked at each other. "If they've done this before, Castle, then there will be similar kidnappings, records of missing persons that fits the M.O," Beckett said.

"We have to research it," Castle insisted.

"I'll call the boys."

* * *

"I'm sorry."

The apology was so quiet that Alexis almost didn't hear it. "What did you say?" She asked.

"I said I'm sorry. For how I acted earlier. I was a real bastard about it," Emmett apologized.

Alexis shrugged. "It's okay. We were all under some stress."

Emmett shook his head. "That's, uh, not why, but okay."

A sudden awkwardness seemed to have descended upon them. After a moment, Alexis cleared her throat. "You know, I'm sorry too. I judged you before I knew you."

Emmett shot her a lopsided grin. "It's okay--I kind of gave you a reason to judge."

"You're just so different," Alexis wasn't sure why she was explaining all of this, but the words tumbled out of her before she could stop them. "You're intelligent and well-read and all but not in the way that I'm used to and… I don't know. I guess it was a shock."

"Hey, it's okay. No harm done," Emmett said, still grinning. "I like 'em feisty."

Alexis laughed. "By the way," she asked, "Why did you call me 'shortcake' earlier?"

"You didn't get it?" Emmet grinned at her. "It's for Strawberry Shortcake, after your hair."

He reached up and ran his fingers through her hair, playing with the strands. An absent, absorbed look came over his face as he stared at the ginger locks in his hand. Alexis leaned into his touch, smiling. A small hum of pleasure sounded in the back of her throat.

The sound seemed to snap Emmett out of his trance, because he pulled his hand back. Alexis missed the feel of it.

"So, uh, you're really confident that your dad and his pals will get us out?" Emmett asked. His voice was slightly higher-pitched, the way it was earlier when he'd touched her back.

"I hope so," Alexis said. "Dad must be worried sick."

"I wish mine was," Emmett growled. He glared at the ground in front of him.

"I'm sorry. Benny told me." She linked her arm with his and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder.

"Thanks. They're not bad people, they just… it's like they forget they have kids, or like we're an inconvenience. And then when my Dad does remember I exist, it's only to tell me all the things I'm doing wrong," Emmett said dully.

Alexis snuggled a little closer into him. It just felt like the right thing to do. "Well, they must have done something right, because you turned out okay."

"Yeah, but Benny's a real nutcase," Emmett joked.

Alexis laughed. She loved how he could make her laugh. She was starting to feel sleepy now, and her laugh turned into a yawn.

"Am I wearing you out?" Emmett asked.

"Fat chance; I can go all night."

"That's what she said."

Alexis hit him playfully. "Shut up."

She closed her eyes, still resting her head on his shoulder. "Hey, Alexis?" Emmett asked.

"Hmm?" She hummed.

"You're not prissy, you know."

"Good," she murmured. "You're only a little arrogant."

His laugh was the last thing she heard as sleep claimed her.

* * *

"Okay--somebody owes me an explanation."

Alexis stirred, blinking and gazing blearily at Benny, who was standing over her. "What?" She asked sleepily.

"When I went to sleep last night you two were at each other's throats, and now look at you two!" Benny said, clearly frustrated with Alexis' lack of understanding.

Alexis looked around her and shot up out of a sitting position, standing up and backing away from the wall. She'd fallen asleep against the wall, using Emmett's shoulder as a pillow.

"I… uh…" She scrambled to explain. "We got to talking last night and sort of, you know, resolved our differences."

Benny rolled her eyes. "Well thank goodness. I was worried I'd have to ask our captors for earplugs. Do you have any idea how embarrassing that would be?" She struck a pose. "'Scuse me, Jigsaw/Mr. Bates/random creepy guy--you wouldn't happen to have earplugs on, would you? 'Cause my roommates here won't stop fighting and it's kind of ruining my sense of calm."

"Benny, you don't have a sense of calm," Emmett groaned as he woke up.

Alexis' mind was still reeling. She'd been talking with Emmett, he talked about his parents, she'd leaned into him to comfort him and then she'd fallen asleep…

It was no big deal.

It was a big deal.

But it shouldn't be a big deal.

Right?

Shit, this was a big mess.

At least, to her it was. Benny had already moved on.

"I have got to find a bathroom. I don't care if it's Freddy fucking Kruger on the other side of that door--I have to pee," Benny announced, heading towards the stairs with purpose.

Emmett groaned and flopped onto the mattress. "If anyone gets us out of there it will be her--she'll make our captors so sick of her they'll just let us go to get rid of us."

Alexis smiled down at him. Emmett turned and saw her smiling and grinned back at her. "You like what you see, Shortcake?"

"Actually, I do," Alexis said.

She was pleased when she saw him swallow hard. She crossed over to him, swaying her hips a little (she never swayed her hips!) before plunking down onto the mattress.

"I  _love_  this mattress," she said, flashing him a devilish grin.

Emmett's laugh was fast and appreciative. "Miss Perfect has a naughty side--who knew?"

"Hey! Open up! I have to use the bathroom because in case you don't remember, that's where I was headed when you shot me full of elephant tranquilizer!" Benny yelled, pounding on the door. "I was heading to that bathroom for a reason and it sure as hell wasn't to powder my nose!"

"Benny, cut it out. You really want to piss them off?" Emmett yelled.

"As a matter of fact, I do want to piss," Benny yelled right back at him.

"TMI, Benny, TMI!" Alexis said, covering her ears in mock horror.

"What. Everyone does it." Benny shrugged.

Emmett groaned while Alexis laughed. "That girl is so embarrassing," he muttered.

Benny had resumed pounding on the door. "Yo! If you're going to make us into a Human Centipede could you please hurry up and get on with it? Because–"

Whatever else Benny was going to say was cut off when the door opened inwards, knocking her backwards and making her stumble. Both Alexis and Emmett jumped up to run to her in case she fell, but Benny regained her balance.

Standing in the doorway was a tall man, dressed in plain jeans and a t-shirt. He had a deep tan and a crew cut, with large brown eyes that looked like someone had put them in upside-down. In his left hand he held a gun.

Alexis' mouth went dry. Emmett took a step forward, grabbing Alexis's wrist and pushing her behind him. He didn't relinquish his hold on her, and even though his grip was tight it didn't hurt. As a matter of fact, it was soothing.

Alexis was reminded of Beckett, and how protective she was. She was angry with Beckett, yes, but she still liked her. Beckett made her dad happy, and while Alexis loved her dad just the way he was, she had to admit that Beckett had changed him. She'd made him a better person while still remaining the same dad she knew and loved.

But Alexis  _knew_  she knew that Beckett loved her dad just as her dad loved Beckett. So why wouldn't she tell him? Why did she have to be such a damn emotional chicken?

Faced with the current torrent of strange feelings that Emmett was assaulting her with, Alexis was beginning to sympathize.

The man at the top of the stairs raised the gun at them casually, as if to show that he could hit them if he wanted to. "One of you needed to use the lavatory?" He asked.

His voice was a low grumble, but there was a detachment to it. Alexis was expecting hatred or anger, or even just plain threatening. But this guy sounded like he was having a really bad day at the office.

Benny raised her hand. "That would be me."

The man looked like he was restraining himself from rolling his eyes. "Follow me. Try anything funny and I shoot--got it?"

"Would you mind awfully if you avoided hitting any vital organs? I kind of need them," Benny said.

The guy really did roll his eyes this time. "I plan on shooting you in the arm."

"How about the leg?" Benny asked.

"Well, we don't want it to look like you didn't even put up a fight," the man protested.

"All right, arm it is." Benny nodded. "Off we go."

The man let Benny pass him, and then followed her up the stairs with the gun at her back. The door closed behind them and locked.

Emmett looked go of Alexis' wrist, and they turned to look at each other. "That was weird," Emmett said.

"He acted like it was just another day at the office," Alexis said slowly.

Emmett frowned. "You mean like he'd done this before."

"Exactly." Alexis nodded. "I have a feeling that they've done this before."

"Well that's just great," Emmett said, slumping back down onto the mattress. He looked up at Alexis, and she saw his pupils dilate a little.

"What?" She asked.

"Nothing," Emmett said quickly. "It's just…" He trailed off.

"What? Do I have something in my teeth?" Alexis faked picking her teeth, earning herself a grin from Emmett.

"No; it's just…" He gulped and took a deep breath, then tried to shrug like it was no big deal. "The sunlight illuminated your hair, and, um, you looked…"

Alexis twisted her lips in that knowing smile. "Just spit it out, Emmett."

"You looked… really pretty," Emmett finished lamely.

Alexis felt a sinking feeling. "Just pretty?"

"Beautiful." Emmett nodded. "And kind of sexy." He grinned.

Alexis flopped down onto the mattress next to him. Emmett's grin didn't waver. Alexis couldn't think of anything to say, so she just smiled. She wondered what Beckett would say in this situation. Then she wondered why the first thing she always thought was what would Beckett do.

Alexis didn't have the chance to do anything, however, because at that moment Benny re-entered the room.

"I must say, I really love what you've done with the bathroom. The spidery crack along the wall behind the toilet was just inspired. Tell me, who was your decorator? Candice Olson? Rachel Ashwell?" Benny said lightly as she tripped down the stairs.

Emmett looked like he was going to strangle Benny, and Alexis choked trying to hide her laughter because the man shooing Benny down the stairs with a gun had the exact same expression on his face.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd forgotten my blatant Firefly references in my early work. Let's ignore them together, shall we?


	4. Simmer

"Okay, great. Thanks Espo." Beckett hung up and turned to Castle. "They ran the sketch through the criminal database. They're faxing that and the kidnapping info now."

"Won't Gates know that we've gone off the map by now?" Castle asked.

"Screw Gates--we're going to find her," Beckett replied. She picked up the pieces of paper that Castle's fax machine spit out and walked back through his office to the coffee table. Sitting down in the couch, she spread out the papers before her. She absentmindedly tucked her hair behind her ears, frowning when she felt the tangles in there.

They'd fallen asleep on the couch last night--or, rather, that morning--and woken up again around seven, only to start working again. It was now seven thirty, and Beckett felt wide awake, but she also felt like she needed a shower.

Not that she was going to ask Castle to borrow his.

Oh God, the images that thought jump-started in her mind…

Something else that she was feeling this morning was a gut-wrenching fear. It had been a slow build yesterday but she'd managed to ignore it. Now, however, she knew they were dealing with professionals, people who did this for a living. Ever since then her insides had been twisting themselves into knots that not even an Eagle Scout could undo.

If something happened to Alexis, so help her…

She couldn't even think of something horrible enough to do to the people who took her.

Beckett was surprised at how fearful and protective she was feeling, but even more surprised by the shame. She felt like she failed, which was absurd. There was nothing she could have done to prevent this. Alexis wasn't even her responsibility.

But it felt like she was.

The only thing that Beckett could think off right then was pulling Alexis into her arms and hugging her with all of her strength, of never taking her eyes off of her again, of keeping her close and never letting her go.

Um, wasn't  _Castle_  supposed to be the one freaking out like this?

Not that he wasn't, oh, no. After waking up tangled together on the couch (awkward, to say the least, but he'd quickly diffused the tension with tiger jokes), Castle had immediately jumped back into the case. The nervousness of yesterday had been replaced with determination, but every five minutes he still broke in with some threat against the abductors or a fresh worry about Alexis, the latest of which had been concern over the fact that she would be alone with a boy.

"Castle, I'm sure she's fine, and the other girl will be with them as well," Beckett had assured him. "Speaking of which, you might want to call the parents, get whatever information you can. I'm sure they've received a letter like yours by now, and we want to stop them before they freak out."

So now Castle was on the phone with Mr. Manson, chatting amicably. It always amazed her how well he could handle people. While she was good at handling suspects and grieving family members, Castle handled people in general with a deft hand.

It made how inept he was with her infinitely amusing, and a smile played across her lips. As she watched, he ran a hand through his hair and said goodbye to Mr. Manson, then hung up the phone. Castle turned to look at her, and his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed.

"They saw the letter this morning when a housemaid saw it lying on the rug where someone had pushed it through the mail slot, and they're assuming it was dropped off sometime last night. I convinced him to let us interview him and his wife and see the letter."

Beckett allowed a smile to cross her face for the first time in twenty four hours. "It's amazing how you do that."

"That's not the only thing I'm amazing at," Castle joked, wiggling his eyebrows.

Beckett bit her lower lip to hold back her laughter. "C'mon and help me look over these," she said, gesturing for him to sit down.

Castle did so, sitting so close to her that their knees were touching. Beckett swallowed hard as her mouth had suddenly gone dry. She blinked, and tried to concentrate.

"Okay, so here's what the boys sent over. The kidnapping matches several previous missing persons cases over the past eight years--each time the kidnapping of two minors, a boy and a girl. They didn't always use a museum, but it was always a public place where the victims were a part of a larger group. It was usually a school group, but not always. The victims always vanished, however, in the restrooms."

She pulled out a list of witness statements to review. "In every single case, witnesses stated that the victim went to the restroom and they didn't see them again. In a couple of cases witnesses noticed a cleaning crew or something similar entering or leaving the restroom but no one ever paid attention to it."

"That's the problem with uniforms," Castle observed. "People tend to only see the outfit and not the person. They saw the cleaning crew the way you see furniture or a tree."

Beckett nodded. It was one of the most annoying parts of a case; people recognized the uniform, be it a hotel maid or waitress, but no one remembered the face. It was like those people weren't even people to them, just faceless machines performing a duty or fulfilling a task.

"In every case, the parents of the victims received a ransom letter exactly like yours, only with the name changed." She passed him a carbon copy of one of the ransom letter. Castle nodded, his mouth tightening. A fierce need to comfort him swept through her, and Beckett quickly picked up another paper.

"Once the parents had left the letter in the slot, they received a second letter." She passed him that copy as well. "This letter had more variation, but retains the same professionalism. It basically gives instructions as to how much money to leave and where, ending with a vague threat about going to the cops."

"What happened if the person didn't follow instructions?" Castle asked.

"Eight cases of kidnappings were called in. The first two were six months apart, then next one was a year later, then another one a year and a half after that, then another one six months after that…" Beckett trailed off.

"These people are professionals who work on a time table," Castle said, catching her meaning. "They most likely stage kidnappings six months apart, but only a few were reported for fear of the harm they would inflict on the kids."

Beckett nodded. "So we have at least eight cases--sixteen kidnappings--that were reported, but if we go by the six month timetable that means there were sixteen cases--thirty two kidnappings."

"Now thirty five," Castle reminded her darkly. He took a deep breath and then stumbled into his question. "What happened when the families reported the incident?"

Beckett looked over the reports, and her breath caught in her throat. "If the families still complied with the demands, no funny business, the victims were returned safely. But two times…" She remembered she needed to breathe and took in a breath that made her chest shudder. "Two times the families were advised not to give in to the demands. They were sent the child's finger. On one of the times the family gave into the demands after that and got their child back, minus one finger. The other time… The other time, they were sent a condolence letter. The child was never seen again."

She handed him the picture of the victim, a fifteen-year-old brunette named Claudia Miller. There was also a copy of the condolence letter. Her heart clenched as she watched Castle read it.

_Dear Mr. and Mrs. Miller,_

_Please allow us to express our sincere condolences at the loss of your child, Claudia. We understand this must be a difficult time for you, and our hopes and prayers will be with you at this time of great sadness._

"Those fucking…" Castle's voice was strangled.

"I know," Beckett whispered hoarsely. She had a sudden image of receiving that letter, with Alexis' name in there instead of Claudia's… Her mind only spiraled from there, conjuring up images from every crime scene she'd ever been to, only it was Alexis who was the victim instead of some John or Jane Doe.

She didn't realize that she was crying until the felt the warm liquid running down her face and taste the wet salt on her tongue. Castle turned towards her, looking shocked.

"Beckett?" He asked, surprised.

She shook her head, not trusting herself to speak.

"Kate…" His voice was gentle but raw and cracking.

He pulled her into a hug and she started to cry in earnest, sobs making her chest heave as she buried her face into his shoulder and neck. After a moment she managed to get her breathing under control and she felt something splash onto her face. Looking up, she saw that Castle's eyes were rimmed red and he was also crying. She pulled back, still in his arms but facing him.

"Oh, Rick…" She felt awful. Here she was, letting him comfort her, when it was his daughter who was taken. Whatever he was going through was ten times worse than her pain.

"I'm sorry. I'm so, sorry, Rick, I just…" Beckett tried to keep her voice from squeaking and failed. "I should be supporting you, not the other way around."

"No, it's okay," Castle said, squeezing her shoulders. "It's comforting to know that someone else cares as much about Alexis as I do."

Beckett nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "It's just… you've known her ever since she was born. You've been there for her, raised her, loved her… I feel like an intruder stealing all the sympathy."

"Hey; misery loves company!" Castle joked weakly.

Beckett nodded. "We should, uh, get back to reviewing these. I figure once we have it all mapped out we'll call in the boys to plan our strategy."

Castle nodded. "But when we get her back I reserve the right to break those bastards' noses."

Beckett smiled. "How about we each get to take down one, okay?"

"Fair enough," Castle said, nodding.

* * *

They had developed a kind of weird pattern.

Whenever one of them had to use the restroom, they pounded on the door. The man would come back, gun in hand, and escort them. The hallway was kept dark, and they were shepherded into the bathroom so quickly that they didn't really get the chance to see anything else. The bathroom itself was small and with a window too tiny for them to fit through. It was in severe need of a facelift, but it was clean and well stocked.

Every three hours, the man would come back, only with a friend--a short, kind of squat man with a stretched-out face and elongated nose. They handed the kids food from some fast food joint; the first time it was burgers, the next, pizza. They were told that requests were welcome, and so Benny asked for Chinese.

That was why they were now sitting on the floor next to the mattress, eating Chinese take-out. Alexis was able to use the chopsticks, but both Benny and Emmett had to use forks.

"Here," she said, reaching over to where Emmett was attempting (again) to use the chopsticks. "Let me show you."

She patiently helped him with the bothersome utensils, positioning his hands properly and guiding him on how to use them. Pretty soon, Emmett was using them almost as well as Alexis was.

"You're a good teacher," he said, sending her another one of those edgy grins that made her heart do more flips then a Cirque de Soleil trapeze artist.

"Want me to teach you?" Alexis asked Benny.

"Nope, I'm good," Benny said, shaking her head. "We must be somewhere in the hub of NYC for them to have access to this many take-out places. This stuff is good!"

"At least it proves they didn't take us to the suburbs," Alexis reminded her. "We could still be anywhere in NYC. There are plenty of pockets with restaurants that will do take-out orders, even if they're independent or family owned."

"Good point," Emmett said, nodding. "I love going to those little independent places, discovering new hole-in-the-wall restaurants and stuff. There's this one place that serves a mixture of Japanese and Italian--it's amazing."

"It sounds delicious," Alexis grinned. "That's what makes NYC so unique, all these tiny pockets. You never know what you'll find."

"If you think it sounds good, wait until you try the green tea ravioli--and they have this lobster-shitake filling that's the bomb." Emmet's grin widened. "I'll have to take you some time."

Alexis closed her eyes and hummed, thinking of how good that sounded. Delicious food, talking with Emmett…

Wait just a minute.

Wouldn't that be classified as a  _date_?

No. Oh, no. This was not happening.

She didn't want to go on a date with Emmet, did she?

Oh God, yes, yes she did.

She needed to talk to Beckett.

And there she was with the Beckett thing again!

Fuck, her head was screwed on weird.

"Is there any chance that I could interrupt the eye-sex to ask someone to pass me the fried rice?" Benny asked, gesturing with her fork.

Alexis' eyes flew open in time to see Emmett's face freeze. A red blush crept up his neck as he handed the food over to his sister.

"I don't know what you're talking about; we were discussing restaurants," he said defensively.

"Sure," Benny said, drawing out the word and rolling her eyes. "And I'm Harry Houdini."

"If you were, you could get us out of here," Emmett muttered.

They finished up the rest of their meal in silence, putting the containers and utensils back in the bags they'd been delivered in and sticking them at the bottom of the stairs. They'd give them to their captors to throw away in the morning.

"It's so weird how…" Benny yawned. "Professional they are."

"You're pretty sleepy for someone who's done nothing all day," Emmett said.

"Hey, I did do something. I whipped your butt at wrestling," Benny reminded him.

Oh yeah, their wrestling matches earlier on the mattress to relieve boredom. Alexis could still recall the heated shiver that shot through her body when Emmett pinned her.

"It was a tie, because you cheated," Emmett shot back.

"You never said no biting! Only no nails, hair or crotch hits."

"Yeah, because I didn't think you'd be depraved enough to bite me."

"Whatever. You tasted like Axe body spray. I'm going to bed." With that, Benny curled up in a corner of the mattress, taking the blanket that the short squatty guy had handed to them with her.

Emmett stood up and yanked on the chain, turning off the light and plunging them into darkness. Alexis sat along the wall, and he joined her.

"Fancy meeting you here," he joked. There was just enough light coming through the slats in the windows above them for Alexis to see the outlines of his face. He was grinning.

"Fancy that," she said, smiling back at him.

They sat like that in silence for a while, but it was companionable. Alexis hadn't realized until then just how comfortable and safe just sitting in silence with someone could be.

Eventually, she noticed that her needle mark was itching again. She reached back, scratching it at best she could, pushing her shirt up and arching her back as she did so. When she finished she glanced over at Emmett. She was startled to see the look on his face. His mouth was open in shock, but the look in his eyes was dark and hungry.

"What?" She asked.

Emmett shook his head, as if to shake something out. "Nothing, nothing at all," he said a little too quickly.

Alexis frowned. She was good at reading people, and she knew when they were lying to her. Emmett was definitely lying to her about something.

"Spit it out, Bansky," she warned him. "Or I'll force it out of you."

"I think you've spent too much time with that NYPD Detective," Emmett muttered.

Alexis' thoughts whirled around in her head like fallen leaves that the breeze had stirred. Was she really like Beckett?

"You've been holding something back from me, Emmett, and I'm not having that. Out with it."

Emmett looked at her sideways for a moment, then back at the floor. Alexis was about to warn him again when he turned and kissed her.

She didn't just see fireworks. She  _felt_  the damn exploding bits of light, felt them bursting in her brain as her nerves woke up, sending sparks of fire dancing up her body. She kissed him back, hungrily, opening her mouth and allowing him access. Their tongues danced and battled, ratcheting up the passion until it burned white-hot within her and it would have been too much if it hadn't felt so damn good.

After a good few minutes they pulled back breathlessly. Emmett's right hand was fisted in her hair while the other held her shoulder. Alexis' hands were gripping his shirt, bunching it up in her fists.

"I've wanted to do that for four years," Emmett said in a hoarse whisper. He brought his hand up to cup her cheek, gently stroking it with his thumb.


	5. Boil

"Four years?" Alexis' brain appeared to have fried several vital circuits while kissing Emmett, because she was having a very difficult time thinking of anything other than him.

Emmett nodded, a little bashfully. "I, uh, noticed you in freshman year, after you helped Benny get a good grade in Biology. She pointed you out to me and I, um, well… I just kind of… I thought you were the most beautiful girl I'd ever seen. It just kind of got worse from there."

"Worse?" Alexis giggled. She never giggled. She must have it bad.

"Yeah." He grinned, stroking the corner of her mouth with his thumb. "Real bad."

"How bad?" Alexis asked, quirking her eyebrows.

"This bad." Emmett leaned in and kissed her again, feather-light, scattering them all over her jaw, her cheeks, her lips, her eyes that had closed in bliss…

Alexis made a mewling sound in her throat and arched toward him, silently begging for more. Emmett kissed her fully on the lips then, and she eagerly opened her mouth for him, drawing him back in.

"Why… didn't… you say anything?" She managed to choke out.

Emmett started kissing her neck, and he chuckled, sending vibrations through her pulse point and radiating through her entire body. "Are you kidding me? Me, the rebellious kid, talking to the biggest good girl in school? And one of the most popular, I might add. Yeah, that doesn't really add up, Shortcake."

He did have a point. Alexis wouldn't have seen the intelligence or the passion in him--only the snarky comments and attitude. Not to mention at the time she'd been enamored with Ashley…

"And, of course, you had that wimpy boyfriend…" Emmett said, working his way back up her neck to tug gently on her earlobe.

"He's a nice guy…" Alexis gasped out.

"I never said he wasn't. But he's all intellectual, no life or spunk. He's watered down. You need someone he can match you."

"Someone like you?" Alexis teased. She decided that it wasn't at all fair that Emmett was having all the fun, so she slipped her hands under his shirt to run them all over his chest, delighting in how his muscles contracted when she did so.

Emmett groaned, and Alexis, encouraged, moved to straddle his lap. "Yeah… like me…" Emmett managed to moan.

Alexis grinned. "You think you have what it takes, then?" She purred, grinding against him. Emmett eyes nearly rolled into the back of his head.

"Shit, babe, you can't…" He trailed off when Alexis did it again, burying his face into her neck. Alexis giggled again. She  _loved_  this.

Then Emmett growled and his hands slipped up her shirt, trailing along her stomach, teasing the outlines of her bra, and it was Alexis' turn to gasp. She threw her head back, and Emmett seized the opportunity to begin lavishing attention on her exposed collarbone and top of her chest. Alexis rested her head against the wall and felt a surge of wet heat shoot through her when Emmett slipped his fingers under her bra.

Suddenly, Emmett pulled back and stood up, slipping Alexis off of his lap. She missed his heat immediately, and felt a craving for him that she was sure was dangerously similar to the one crack addicts felt.

"Alexis…" His voice was hoarse and nearly cracked, and his eyes were dancing with hunger, but his clenched fists told her he was holding himself back. "Babe, if you don't want this… I mean, I want to make sure…"

Of all the times for him to turn into a gentleman. Alexis stood up and walked up to him, swaying her hips. Emmett swallowed hard, and she loved the reaction she had on him. Slowly, she trailed her fingers along the edge of his pants before slipping them under his shirt and pulling him to her. She grabbed his hand and put it so that it was cupping her pants in between her thighs. There was no way he could not feel how wet she was.

"I'd say I want this, wouldn't you?" Alexis asked, trying to sound husky and seductive instead of needy, because putting his hand there was making her insane.

It must have worked, because Emmett practically dove for her, their mouths crashing against one another as they pressed themselves together. Alexis hooked one leg around Emmett's waist and he pushed her up against the wall, sliding a knee in between her legs. Alexis moaned.

She'd been turned on before. She'd had make-out sessions before. And, while she had to agree with Emmett about Ashley, he had been fairly talented. But nothing, nothing she had ever imagined or fantasized or experienced, could match this. This was like white-hot fire was coursing through her, replacing her blood with liquid flame, and her nerves and skin cells were made of electricity, tiny electrical sparks, that zapped and zinged with pleasure every time Emmett touched them…

Their hands were everywhere, all over, touching every place that they could get, and she realized that she was now grinding against him, her leg wrapped around him pushing him closer into her, and oh God she was going to come and they didn't even have their fucking clothes off yet…

When it was all over, Alexis would never admit it, but she came very, very close to murder then, because at that moment Benny rolled over and muttered something in her sleep.

Emmett froze, and although Alexis tried to grind against him, because she was sitting there dripping wet and on the edge and  _why the fuck wasn't he moving_  Emmett had her pinned firmly against the wall, and unless he moved she could get no leverage.

"Shit." Emmett's voice was strangled with regret and frustration. "Benny…"

Alexis groaned. "Please…" she whispered, once again trying to get some space to grind against him.

Emmett practically whimpered at hearing the pleading in her voice. "If she wakes up…" he muttered, glancing over at his sister, who was sleeping only a few feet away.

In all honesty, Alexis had forgotten about Benny, and she would prefer to go back to forgetting about her and finish what they'd started.

"Emmett… can't we just…" Alexis was ready to sob with sexual frustration.

Emmett shook his head. "It shouldn't be like this," he said, and Alexis could see he was just as frustrated as she was. "I can't take you up against a wall."

Alexis rested her head on his shoulder, but Emmett took her chin gently in his hand and raised her head so that she was looking right into his eyes. Despite the darkness, she nearly flinched with the emotion she saw there.

"I don't want it hard and fast, babe. That's not what I waited four years for," he whispered. "I want this to matter to you, to us. I want it to be something we can look back on as special--not in some filthy anonymous basement with my sister sleeping next to us."

She hated it, she really did, because she wanted him more than she'd ever wanted any boy before, but he was right. She liked Emmett, and she was sure that when morning came and they were out of this mess she'd thank him for it.

Of course, it would be a very hot and very physical thank you, but it was the thought that counted, right?

Alexis nodded, and Emmett lowered his knee. She unhooked her leg from where she'd wrapped it around his waist, and Emmett stepped back. Alexis stepped forward, closing the distance between them again. Emmett started to protest but then she grabbed his hand and slowly sat down along the wall, pulling him with her.

Once they were both seated she curled up into him, resting her head on his shoulder and snuggling into him. Emmett wrapped his arms around her, stretching his legs out.

"Next best thing, Shortcake," Emmett assured her.

"The moment I get you alone…" she warned him, wiggling her butt. Emmett laughed.

"That's very naughty, Miss Prissy." It was amazing how he could make that word sound like a caress.

"Hmm…" Alexis hummed as her eyes slid closed. She would have never expected it, since she was so charged up and horny a minute ago, but she was sleepy. She supposed this was why people traditionally went to sleep afterwards--it was exhausting.

And they hadn't even gotten to the main event that time.

* * *

They had the information. They had the identities. They had the interviews (with the witnesses and the parents of Benny and Emmett). In short, they were ready to go… except for one tiny, insignificant little detail…

They didn't know where the hideout was.

Beckett ran a hand through her hair before tucking it behind her ear. They had everyone on high alert for any sightings of the suspects, but until they found where the perps were they couldn't go after them and get Alexis back.

She was ready to scream with frustration. It had only been 24 hours, and they were farther along by now than most people were a week into the investigation, but it didn't matter. Alexis was still in the hands of those bastards and until she was safe at home with Castle, Beckett wasn't going to have any peace.

Part of what scared her was the professionalism. Yes, raving lunatics or hateful villains were all well and good, but you expected that. You could handle it. When these people did things for money, cold, hard cash, and they were so utterly cold-blooded and detached… when it was just another day at the office for them… it was frightening. It scared her because she knew that they were doing what they did, and they would do anything else they had to, and they wouldn't even think about it. It was like filing papers to them: casual, normal, and utterly heartless.

She had to get Alexis out of there.

"You might want to brace yourself," Castle warned her as he walked over to join her on the couch. "Espo just text me and apparently Gates has figured out something's up. She's probably going to call you."

Beckett held back the growl of frustration. Montgomery would have been just as hard on her in this case--this was a kidnapping after all, not a homicide--but it was easier to get angry at Gates. Beckett still didn't like the woman, and it wasn't just because of her demeanor or leadership strategy. Gates didn't like Castle, and she wanted him out. Beckett was not about to let that happen.

"Any sightings called in yet?" Castle asked.

Beckett shook her head. She was calling in so many favors on this one she was practically burying herself alive. She was certain she'd have tons of work to do in the future when it was her turn to return those favors, but she didn't care. This strange determination had possessed her, this all-consuming drive to get Alexis back, and until that happened, nothing else mattered.

"We'll find something," she assured him. "I have them canvassing like there's no tomorrow."

Castle nodded and paced for a moment. Beckett watched him out of the corner of her eye. That look of worry still hadn't left his face. She was beginning to worry that it would be stuck there permanently.

"Castle…"

He turned, looking at her. Beckett gestured helplessly with her hands, unsure of what to do but knowing that she had to help him, somehow. She stood up and went to him, wrapping her arms around him. After a moment, Castle responded, pulling her flush against him and holding her tight.

"We have to get her back," Castle whispered, bringing one hand up to play with Beckett's hair.

"We will," she replied, nuzzling his neck gently. "We'll get her back and make them pay."

They stood there like that for a while, oblivious to the march of time, until Castle murmured something.

"Hmm, what?" Beckett pulled her mind out of the gutter and tried to listen to what he was saying.

"It's snowing," Castle repeated, and she felt him nod towards the large window.

Beckett smiled. She loved the snow. But then snow reminded her of Christmas, which reminded her of family, which reminded her of Alexis…

Castle must have been thinking the same thing because she felt his chest contract, as if he was holding something in… like a sob.

It was like a trance came over Beckett, because she pulled away slightly, just enough to cup Castle's face with her hands and pull him to her, kissing him softly. After a moment--or perhaps an eternity, her sense of time was going haywire--she pulled back. The look on Castle's face was one of such shock and love that she nearly cried.

"We're going to fix this," Beckett promised him. "We're going to find her. We'll – you'll be a family again."

Castle nodded, and Beckett marveled at his inability to speak. If she'd known this was all it took to shut him up, she would have done it long ago. If he'd noticed Beckett's slip, he had the tact not to mention it.

To be honest, she was sure where the slip had come from. She'd never really thought about a family, about a husband or kids, because it was too painful. But now… now… she'd been thinking about it, about having those kids, and that husband. And when she did, the kids all had very familiar striking blue eyes.

Now it appeared that she already thought of Castle, and Alexis, as family. Okay, so Castle wasn't that much of a shock – she could admit, at least to herself, that she was deeply in love with him. And if that thought wasn't scary enough, she suspected that she loved Alexis, too, loved her more than a sweet girl, or as a friend... but as a daughter.

"Beckett…" Castle seemed to have recovered enough to both speak and form coherent thought. "Did you just…"

"Yes," Beckett said firmly. She didn't want him thinking this was a mistake, or a dream, or that she was only doing this to comfort him. She was, but she was also doing it because she'd wanted to for years, and because she loved him. "And before you say a word, I'm not going to regret it."

Castle looked relieved, which left her off-guard for when he pulled her back in and kissed her again, his mouth devouring hers with a hunger that lit a fire ablaze in her belly. They battled, first one then the other controlling the kiss, exploring each other with a possessive ferocity that defied any fantasy she'd ever had of them together.

When the need to breathe finally made itself known, even though Beckett was fairly certain that it was more of a luxury than an actual need, they broke apart. She was breathing hard, and she knew that her cheeks were just as flushed as Castle's were. His hair was sticking up at odd angles from when she'd run her fingers through it.

Before any of them could say anything or do more than just stare at each other, Beckett's phone rang. Tearing her gaze away from Castle, she picked it up and answered.

"Beckett," she said automatically. Castle was still staring at her with a look of admiration, adoration, and lust. Beckett tried to ignore him and listen to the person on the other end of the phone.

"Uh-huh… okay, we're on our way. Thanks Stewart--I owe you one." Beckett hung up and turned to Castle. "We've got a location."

His face transformed, all other thoughts wiped away as a mixture of fear and fury warred for dominance on his face. Beckett felt the same way. They were going in, they were going to get her. She could only pray that they weren't too late.

As she moved to get her things, checking to make sure that her gun was in its holster at her hip, Castle grabbed her wrist and pulled her back to him.

"We're not finished with that." His voice was deeper than usual, and Beckett had to smile.

"Let's go get Alexis," Beckett said, turning so he wouldn't see how wide her grin was.

* * *

Alexis was finding it near-impossible to think of anything other than Emmett. How his skin had felt, feverish with arousal and deceptively smooth beneath her hands. How he'd tasted, his unique flavor. How his mouth had felt, how his tongue had invaded her and driven her wild. How his hands, able to paint or work a spray can, had turned out to be very talented in other areas as well. The color of his eyes, the feel of his hair, the sound of his voice--every passing moment provided her with a new thing to look at, to consume her thoughts.

But, knowing that it was far from wise to be thinking about Emmett like that right now, Alexis had settled for finding a distraction. After flitting from subject to subject (every train of thought inevitably led back to him), she'd found herself thinking about Beckett.

Why was she angry with her? Why did Alexis feel just as abandoned by Beckett as her father had? She didn't have a right to feel that way… did she?

Alexis thought back on all the times she'd spent with Beckett. She'd always felt happy when Beckett was around… happy and safe. She'd gone to Beckett with things that she couldn't go to anyone else with. She trusted Beckett. She loved…

No.

No, she didn't. She couldn't.

Did she love Beckett?

Alexis tried to be objective, examining the thing from all sides, the way she would a painting at a museum or a complicated math problem or a debate subject. Looking at every angle, trying to find the different spots, the angles, looking for something that would make it all click for her.

But this wasn't a painting, or a geometry equation, or a debate over immigration. This was Beckett. Intelligent, caring, tough, beautiful, amazing Beckett, the person that Alexis admired most in the world (apologies to Susan B. Anthony, Mother Teresa and Agatha Christie). Alexis had felt close to Beckett.

And then it was all taken away when Beckett vanished for four months.

Did she not get it? Did she not see the people that she was hurting? Not just her dad, although that was obvious, but the people at the precinct, too. Alexis had been hurt, and she hadn't even realized it. She'd thought her anger at Beckett was only the anger at two people in love who wouldn't admit it, but now she realized she was angry at a mother who'd abandoned her child.

Alexis didn't have a mother. Meredith was no mother--she was a frivolous, shallow woman that Alexis visited once or twice because she could be fun in minute doses. Gina had never really worked out, although Alexis had to give her credit for trying. But Beckett… apparently, Beckett had taken that spot in Alexis' heart and neither of them had even realized it.

Mentor, friend, support, safe place…  _mother_.

Every single word applied to Beckett in Alexis' mind.

So there it was. Beckett was a mother to Alexis. Of course, you don't get the perfect grades in one of the best schools in the world without learning something, and Alexis knew that this would take time. They wouldn't just be buddy-buddy all of a sudden. But admitting it was a start. The moment she got out of this kidnapping mess, she was scheduling a lunch date with Beckett, hitting up a museum with her, maybe do some shopping. First thing, she was dealing with this.

Well, first thing after she got Emmett alone.

And now she was back to Emmett again.

Clearly, she and Beckett would have a lot to talk about on their lunch date, which would be happening come hell or high water or body drops thank you very much.

* * *

"Alexis…"

No response. She was staring blankly at the wall, still lost in her reverie.

"Shortcake?"

No answer.

"Yo, 5.0!"

Alexis blinked slowly. Was someone talking to her?

"Try another one," Benny suggested.

If Alexis had seen Emmett's grin, she would have been concerned.

"Hey, sexy!"

Alexis whipped around, looking over at Emmett and Benny, who were seated on the mattress. Benny treated both her brother and friend to a confused look, while Alexis glared at the still-grinning Emmett.

"What?" She asked, trying to diffuse the situation before Benny got it into her mind to ask what all the meaningful glances were for.

"I have a plan," Emmett said.

"Actually, I had a plan, but you didn't like it so we changed it," Benny reminded him.

"That's because your plan made next to no sense," Emmett snorted. He turned to Alexis. "Look, we have to get out of here. Next time the two guys come in with food, I say we tackle them."

Alexis was alarmed. "What? Are you insane? We'll be killed."

Emmett shook his head. "No, we won't. See, if one of us hides behind the door, that person can jump on the guy with the gun and catch him by surprise. The short one doesn't have a gun, making it easier. If we get both of them, we'll know we have two down, which is better than having one down and knowing there's at least one more out there."

"This is five different kinds of stupid," Alexis warned him.

"I think it's the only chance we have. Before long, if our parents haven't paid the ransom or the police haven't found us, they're going to start hurting us. And I'm not going to let those fuckers touch either one of you girls," Emmett said, his voice dipping into a growl at the last part.

"Down, boy," Benny quipped. "Don't be manly and impulsive."

Emmett looked up at the light coming through the slats. "They should be coming down soon to give us breakfast."

"I really hope it's from that place they went to yesterday. Those croissants were to die for!" Benny cleared her throat when she saw Alexis and Emmett staring at her. "Um, I mean, we'll need something to eat for energy while we run for our lives, right? Good carbs and all that?"

Alexis had to laugh. It was clear that, short of sewing her mouth shut, nothing would keep Benny from saying exactly what was on her mind.


	6. Reunion

It all went crazy from the beginning.

Alexis knew it was crazy, she knew they shouldn't have tried it, and she was going to get the biggest lecture from her dad, from Beckett, and a dramatic reenactment of all that could have gone wrong from Gram.

The first part had actually gone pretty well. Emmett had tackled the guy and proven that all those wrestling sessions with Benny came in handy. Alexis and Benny had taken the shorter guy down, knocking him out cold as planned.

But when they'd rushed up the stairs and into the hallway, they were met with the third guy. They'd suspected there would be another, but it was still a shock. That had been when Alexis realized just how stupid they were, how they were going to get hurt and she should have stopped them because she was the sensible one…

They were so lucky, so very fucking lucky. The guy was surprised, not at all expecting them, and only had time to fire the gun once in a kneejerk reaction before Emmett had hit him.

And then Benny was grabbing her arm, and pulling her along and telling her not to look, don't look, it'll be okay we have to get out of here and that was when Alexis realized that she had started screaming Emmett's name.

Now they were running. They were running past the fight, through another room and out of the apartment into the ground floor hallway of some building, and Benny was still pulling Alexis along and oh God, no, no they had to go back for Emmett…

"Just keep running, Alexis. Emmett's a big boy, he'll look after himself. We have to get to safety, get someone's attention. C'mon, Alexis." Benny was encouraging her, pulling her along and running, which was good because Alexis' head was spinning and she couldn't even think straight, never mind tell her body what to do.

They were running, running out of the lobby of the apartment building and into the street, into the light, and all that Alexis could see was Emmett, a bullet wound in his side, telling her to run.

* * *

Beckett got out of the cop car, pulling her gun out of its holster, her vest in place. There were only three in the kidnapping ring, but she'd brought some extra backup in case of a hostage situation. People tended to freak out when there were fifteen guys pointing guns at them instead of four.

She could feel Castle behind her, but she pushed him back. "I need you to stay here," she said, trying to keep her voice even. If there was a hostage situation she needed to have a cool head, and she didn't trust Castle's paternal instinct not to make him be reckless should that occur.

He seemed to understand, because he withdrew back into the car. "I'll be here," he said, and he was both complying and reassuring her with those three simple words.

Beckett approached the unassuming apartment building, gun at the ready, with Ryan and Esposito right behind her. She was getting ready to enter the lobby when two girls burst out.

One of the girls had short blonde hair and was pulling the other along, telling her to keep running. The girl that was being pulled along, the one who kept looking back like someone had just run over her puppy…

"Alexis!" Beckett couldn't help the shout of joy and relief.

Alexis turned, the wind stirring her red hair and making it whip around. Beckett felt her heart swell. Alexis realized that it was Beckett, and she tore herself away from the other girl (who must be Benny Manson) and barreled into Beckett, sobbing.

Beckett didn't think, she just reacted, wrapping Alexis in a hug and holding her tightly, stroking her hair and murmuring comforting words into her ear.

"Baby girl… sweet girl… it's okay now, Alexis, it's okay. You're all right, thank God, you're all right. Shh, it's okay, baby girl, it's okay," she crooned, slowly rocking back and forth.

She had no idea how long they stood like that until Alexis pulled away, her face streaked with tears. "Emmett," she said, her voice croaking from her crying. "Benny's brother, he's still in there and he's injured…"

Beckett turned, but saw that Ryan and Esposito had taken the initiative and entered the building. They were now escorting the three perps into the squad cars, as well as having the EMT people wheel out a boy--who could only be Emmett--on a stretcher.

Sensing Alexis' restlessness, Beckett let go, and the girl ran over to the stretcher. Beckett followed slowly, walking up to inspect the damage. She reached them just in time to hear Emmett say,

"You never told me the cop was your mom."

Beckett froze.

Instead of denying it, Alexis turned and smiled at Beckett. "She's the next best thing," she assured Emmett.

The boy reached up a hand and stroked Alexis' cheek tenderly. "I'll be out before you know it, Shortcake, and I'm holding you to that date."

Alexis laughed, catching his hand in hers and squeezing it. "Get better," she whispered.

Then the EMTs wheeled him into the ambulance. The blond girl, Benny, was already sitting in there to escort her brother, and she waved at Alexis.

"I'll make sure they stitch him up right, Alexis, don't worry," Benny said, smiling.

The doors to the ambulance closed and it took off.

* * *

Alexis turned away, trying not to cry at the thought of Emmett in the hospital, and Beckett put her arm around her. She felt safe with Beckett, but more than that, she felt at home.

"Alexis!"

Dad was running towards her, wearing that ridiculous vest that said WRITER on it, the look on his face making her heart stop. Alexis could only stand there, grinning, as he ran up and enveloped her in the biggest, fiercest hug she'd ever had.

"Um, Dad? I need to breathe," Alexis tried to say, her voice muffled as her face was pressed into his chest.

He released her from the bear hug, but kept his hands firmly on her shoulders. "I am never letting you out of my sight again, Pumpkin. I'll chain you to your bed if I have to."

Beckett laughed. "Good luck with that one, Castle," she said, winking at Alexis.

Her father smiled at Beckett, and then his gaze flicked back to Alexis and he became concerned. "You aren't hurt, or anything? I saw the ambulance leaving."

"Emmett was shot." Alexis' throat threatened to close up.

"Flesh wound, didn't hit any organs or anything," Beckett said. "The EMTs said he should be fine with minimal scarring."

Dad nodded. "You didn't get too bored without me, did you?" He teased.

Alexis shook her head. "I really got to know Emmett and Benny." She knew that if her dad was aware of just how well she'd gotten to know Emmett, he'd kill the boy and lock her in the closet for the rest of her life.

Slipping an arm around her shoulders, her dad pulled her into a side hug. "C'mon honey, let's go home." Then he glanced at Beckett. "Um, after you give your statement, I mean."

Beckett smiled warmly at him, and Alexis noticed the change in her demeanor. She seemed more… open. Less closed off, less buttoned up. Alexis felt a warm glow of hope blossom inside her.

"I'll do my best to get you out of the precinct as soon as I can," Beckett said, "But you and I will have to get our asses chewed out and handed back to us by Gates first."

Her father looked uncomfortable. "Are you sure that we can't just pretend we became sick or something?" He asked, pouting.

"Yo!" Detective Esposito called to them as he strode up, Detective Ryan hurrying up behind him. They stopped and smiled warmly when they saw Alexis.

"Glad to see you're okay," Ryan said, nodding at her.

"Yeah, girlie, we've been covering their butts so they could work on bringing you home," Esposito said with mock seriousness. He winked, though, dispelling any doubt that he was joking.

"C'mon, Castle. I'm driving," Beckett said. She then looked back at Ryan and Esposito. "Are you two heading back to the 12th?"

"Yeah, but I wouldn't show up there if I were you," Esposito said. "We told Gates that you two ended up in a minor car accident and just got discharged. She's expecting you tomorrow morning."

Her dad clapped the boys on the back with a wide grin, promising to give them drinks on the house at The Old Haunt if they'd join him there tonight. Beckett shook her head ruefully but a grin was creeping up her face.

As they walked towards Beckett's squad car, Alexis looped her arms through both Beckett and her father's, linking them together in a chain with her in the middle. Her dad responded immediately, giving her a quick side hug and keeping their arms linked. Beckett looked down at Alexis' face, as if unsure, then smiled and linked their arms closer.

Although her stomach was still in knots from Emmett's condition, Alexis couldn't help but feel that this was a beginning of sorts, the start of something. And when she saw the look that Beckett and Dad shared as they got into the car, she was certain of it.


	7. Double Dirty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Italian-Japanese place that Emmett talks about was a reference that I made to a story that a friend on ff.net, username Liv Wilder, had written.

Alexis unlocked the door to the loft, trying not to let her fingers tremble. It had taken a week but Emmett was finally, finally out of the hospital, and they'd just finished their promised date to the Italian-Japanese place. The food was divine, but it was all she could do to stop herself from ripping his clothes off and getting on with it.

Now that they'd wined and dined (okay, not wined, not yet anyway), they were going back to her home because Emmett wasn't exactly comfortable at his house.

"I was thinking that maybe you could join me when I head out tonight?" Emmett asked as they stepped into the foyer, shucking off their winter boots and coats. "I plan on hitting this alley tonight over by 68th and Broadway."

Alexis grinned at him, because it sounded like the best thrill ever--well, the best thrill besides what she was going to do with him right then.

Grabbing his hand, Alexis led him upstairs to her room, closing and locking the door once they'd entered.

"Nice room. Sophisticated but cute… like you, Shortcake," Emmett said, giving her the lopsided grin that made her knees go weak.

"Hmmm. Emmett, do you remember what you said the last night we were captured?" Alexis asked, walking towards him.

"You mean the night we nearly did the dirty with Benny a few feet away?" Emmett asked, his pupils dilating. "It would be a little hard to forget that, babe."

"You said that you didn't want to take me up against a wall--that you wanted it to be special," Alexis reminded him. She reached him, standing by the edge of the bed, and she trailed her fingers up his arms and then down his chest. Emmett's eyes darkened until only a glowing rim of blazing green could be seen.

Emmett swallowed hard. "Yeah, I remember," he said slowly, his voice thick with lust.

"I really hope my bed is special enough for you," Alexis whispered, her voice made low with need, "Because we are going to finish what we started."

Emmett made a growling sort of noise deep in his throat, and then he was attacking her, assaulting her with his lips and teeth and tongue, his hands running up and down her body and making her shiver. Her body had come alive in that way again, the way that only he could make her feel, with that strange electricity zinging all over and making her go crazy.

Alexis helped him out of his shirt, tossing it to the side and pushing him back onto the bed. Emmett watched, fascinated, as she slowly raised her shirt up over her head, holding the garment between two fingers and dropping it onto the floor.

"That is the sexiest thing I have ever seen," he said. His voice was choked and halting, and Alexis had a feeling it had to do with the tent in his pants. She grinned, loving this feeling of power. She started to unzip her jeans but then Emmett grabbed her waist, sitting up and pulling her so that she was straddling his lap on the bed.

"You're a regular little minx, you know that?" He asked.

"And you're a regular…" Alexis didn't get to finish her sentence because Emmett kissed her, fusing them at the mouth and pressing her against him. The feel of his manhood against her hot, wet core made her whimper and Emmett swallowed the moan she let out.

Running her hands over his chest, splaying them out to touch as much of him as possible, Alexis let her fingers drift down towards his pants. She undid his belt and snap, unzipping him. Emmett bucked instinctively towards her hand, and she smiled as they kissed.

Emmett flipped her over so that they were lying on the bed with him on top, and he helped her to wiggle out of her pants. Then he undid her bra and got to work on her breasts, and the only thought her brain was able to form was  _God oh God how the hell did he get so good at this_?

Alexis pushed Emmett's pants off, leaving them both in nothing but their underwear to separate that lovely skin-on-skin feeling. Hands wandered, leaving trails of fire in their wake. Mouths searched and explored, teasing and tasting. And every once in a while hips ground uncontrollably when they did something that felt unbelievably good.

Finally, after what felt like hours of trying to drive each other mad, Emmett hooked his thumbs under her underwear. Alexis obligingly lifted her hips to allow him to work it off of her, but she didn't expect him to start kissing his way back up her legs once it was off. She groaned, her hips bucking as he came tantalizingly close to where she needed him to be. Then he kissed her clit, just once, and Alexis' eyes rolled back into her head.

"Condom?" Emmett asked, about to reach down for his long-ago discarded pants.

"Already got it," Alexis said, reaching into the top drawer of her nightstand and pulling one out. "I got them with Kate on our lunch date."

Yes, Alexis was calling her Kate now. That lunch date had been one of the best days of her life. She certainly wasn't planning on going condom-shopping with her dad… or, heaven help her, Gram.

Honestly, she'd been surprised at how supportive and understanding Kate was, but she'd just smiled at Alexis, answered all of her questions, and explained everything that she could. It was great.

And, yes, they'd talked. Alexis had explained the confusing but unavoidable fact that in her eyes, Kate had become more than just a role model. No matter what else happened, Alexis wanted Kate in her life, wanted her as a support and a friend. Kate had looked like she was going to cry, but out of joy, and she'd promised to be there for Alexis.

Now, however, the animal deep inside Alexis wasn't roaring in triumph at the bonding session--it was pleased with the benefits from the not-so-innocent shopping part.

Emmett opened the foil package and rolled the condom on, his brow furrowed in concentration. Alexis giggled (again, with the giggling!) and quirked her eyebrow.

"Having a little trouble there, mister?" She asked.

"This is harder than it looks, okay?" Emmett said, shooting her a glance.

"What, you've never done this before?" Alexis asked.

"Why, have you?" Emmett looked up. "Please tell me you haven't."

Alexis was shaking with laughter. "No, I haven't, I didn't mean… I meant in sex education classes, where they make you put it on a banana or something…"

Emmett stared at her for a moment, mirth flickering in the deep evergreen depths of his eyes. "A banana is different from a cock, Shortcake." His eyes flickered to her mouth before meeting her eyes again. "And if you want to laugh, next time I'll make you put it on."

"Ooh, what torture," Alexis winked, not even trying to hide her smile.

"Okay, that is it," Emmett said, covering her body with his and stopping her laughter with a kiss.

All humorous thoughts left her mind as he slid into her. Alexis hadn't had much experience--okay, absolutely zero experience--with the male anatomy, so she really couldn't judge as to whether he was average or above average or whatever when it came to size. All she knew was that he filled her, stretched her, completed her in a way she hadn't known before, but now that she did know, she never wanted to let him go. It was as if, somehow, they'd broken the laws of physics and become one person, not knowing where one ended and the other began.

It took a minute, but they found their rhythm, their bodies moving tortuously slowly before picking up tempo. Their breathing was ragged, their mouths and hands clumsily working their way along their bodies as they tried to touch every little bit of each other.

Alexis felt that with each thrust, every time her body was pounded onto the bed, a bit of her turned into glass. Her entire body was becoming this hard, beautiful glass figure, and soon the pressure would be too much and she would shatter…

Emmett thrust into her one more time, and then her world exploded. She was shattering, pieces of her flying everywhere, but the glass was turning into liquid fire, burning and burning but it was so good, she never wanted it to stop, never wanted to come down from that insane high.

When Alexis finally managed to take in her surroundings again, Emmett was lying on top of her, his arms having given out. He was breathing hard, his face flushed, and Alexis was having a difficult time sucking in a breath because of his weight on top of her.

"Oh, sorry babe," Emmett said, rolling off of her. Alexis smiled and snuggled into him, placing her arms on his chest and her head resting on her arms so that she could look at him.

Emmett grinned at her. "And I thought you couldn't get more beautiful…" he murmured, and Alexis blushed. Emmett tucked a piece of her hair behind her ear, still smiling.

Alexis pretended to think for a moment, and then nodded. "You'll do," she said with mock seriousness.

Emmett laughed, pulling her closer to him. "I better, 'cause I'm not letting any other guy take my place."

"I like the sound of that," Alexis said, tracing patterns on his chest. She was beginning to get sleepy again, and she noticed that Emmett was also drifting off.

"Is it always this good, or are you just special?" Emmett asked jokingly.

"Nah, you just got lucky. I'm perfect, remember?" Alexis reminded him.

His chuckle resonated through his chest and her body, a soothing vibration to send her into dreamland.

* * *

Beckett and Castle stumbled out of the elevator, not even pausing the intense make-out session they'd been having the minute they'd gotten into the elevator from the apartment lobby. One date. That was how long they'd lasted. One date before they were at each other like monkeys.

So much for taking it slow.

They shouldn't be doing this. It's a bad idea, there are so many reasons why this could go wrong and they should just stop right now and  _oh lord it feels so damn good…_

"Keys…" Castle muttered, but his hands didn't leave Beckett's body. She would have rolled her eyes if they weren't closed from all the things he was doing to her.

"I'll get them," she said, reaching into his pocket and withdrawing the key ring. She made sure to get in some stroking while she was at it.

Castle paused in his ministrations to hollow of her throat. "If you keep doing that, Kate, we're not going to make it into the house."

She almost laughed. He was  _so_  easy.

Breaking away from him, Beckett dangled the keys tantalizingly before taking off down the hallway towards his apartment.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Castle was chasing after her, and by the time he caught up to her at his apartment door they were both breathless with laughter.

Castle ran his hand through her hair (although the rest of her wardrobe was admittedly drab, she'd noticed how much he loved her hair and always took the time to make it look nice) and cupped her chin with his other hand. They gazed at each other for a moment, and Beckett felt like she was drowning in the deep blue of his eyes.

Then they were diving for each other again, and they could barely get the door unlocked before bursting through it in a tangle of limbs. Beckett shed her coat and helped Castle out of his as they kicked off their boots.

"Bedroom, now," Castle said, his voice almost predatory. He scooped Beckett up in his arms, kneading her ass as he carried her towards his bedroom.

Grinning, Beckett began to pay very careful attention to his ear and neck, kissing and nipping at the sensitive skin and loving the groan her ministrations earned her.

Thank goodness Castle had the presence of mind to close the door behind them, because she was so wrapped up in him, in his smell, his taste, his hands, his glorious mouth, that she couldn't have focused on anything else if she tried.

Castle dumped her on to the bed, quickly climbing on top of her. Not content to let him be the only one in control (although his possessiveness was the biggest turn-on she'd ever had), she pulled a fighting move to flip him so that she was on top.

"You always have to drive, don't you Detective?" Castle teased, reaching up to tease her nipples through her thin shirt.

Beckett's head dropped back and she rocked against him, feeling his erection pressed against her aching core. "Figuratively speaking, of course," he added, his voice strained from her grinding.

Beckett smiled and bent down, devouring him in a heated kiss. "Of course," she whispered once they'd broken apart.

Clothes went flying with record speed and neither of them spoke as they wrestled with buttons, snaps and zippers (in that order). Finally, finally they were naked, able to touch and tease each other to oblivion.

Castle finally got Beckett pinned after a little who's-on-top war, one of his large hands holding her two delicate wrists, keeping her hands firmly above her head. With his other hand, he began to rub slow circles with his thumb on her thigh. Slowly, far too slowly for Beckett's liking, he inched his hand closer to where she so desperately wanted it to be.

"Rick…" Beckett gasped, arching her back. "Faster…"

"Patience is a virtue, Kate," Castle reminded her teasingly, his fingers so close to where she needed them to be.

"I haven't had any in six months unless erotic dreams count, Rick, so you better get to the main event before I flip you over and have my way with you," Beckett warned him.

Castle chuckled. "Let me have my fun this round, Kate, and I'll let you drive next time." He leaned down, pressing his body against hers and crushing her breasts to his chest in a way that had her moaning. His hot mouth was right next to her ear, and his voice made erotic shivers shoot through her body.

"And if you think six months has made you desperate, just wait until you see what happens after a year and a half."

He didn't say it, but Beckett knew that he hadn't gotten any because of her, because he'd wanted to be with her, and only her. It made her go from damp to dripping.

"Show me what you got, Writer-Boy," she challenged huskily.

Castle pressed her clit between his thumb and forefinger. Beckett cried out and ground against his hand as he rolled her clit over his thumb, playing it like a tiny musical instrument.

"That's Writer-Man, Detective," he said, his voice low and by far the sexiest thing she'd ever heard. How he made her job title sound so dirty, she'd never know, but she loved it.

"Rick--God, Rick, just--I need you…" Beckett couldn't even complete a sentence.

"What do you need, Kate?" Castle asked, his mouth playing with her ear while his hand played with her clit. "Tell me."

He slid a finger into her and she bucked, his rhythm slow and steady and driving her mad. "I need--you, Rick, I--I need you… in me…"

Castle slipped another finger into her and curled them slightly, hitting a sweet spot in her and making her scream again. She'd never been a screamer but fuck it, she couldn't help it and she just might get a reputation with the neighbors if they do this on a regular basis.

At her scream, Castle seemed to lose all control and pulled his fingers out of her, replacing them with his sheathed cock. One smooth move and he was in her, filling her, stretching her unbelievably. He didn't pause in his assault on her neck, and Beckett sought a handhold among the sheets before grabbing his shoulders and sinking her nails in. Castle groaned and began to move.

They rocked furiously, Beckett wrapping her legs around him and hooking her ankles to allow him a deeper angle. Castle sank into her again and again, pushing her closer to that brink. Beckett felt like she was running a race with her own body, racing up a mountain towards the peak, growing closer with each second.

Suddenly, Castle stopped moving inside her. Beckett tried to move against him, but he had her pinned and his weight on top of her kept her from being able to move much.

"Rick…" Her voice was dangerously close to a whine.

"I need you to hear this," Castle insisted, still refusing to move.

Beckett knew what he was going to say, and she was torn between kissing him and beating him to death with the butt of her gun.

Her mouth, however, disconnected the filter that ran between it and her brain without telling her, and said the words she'd thought a hundred times over the course of the evening.

"I love you too, Richard Castle."

Castle looked like she'd dumped cold water over his head. He stared at her, wide-eyed, for a full second. Beckett was starting to worry when a grin spread over his face, lighting it up and making him look very boyish for a second. Damn, she loved that grin.

"You're not angry?" Beckett was shocked. Castle knew her better than anyone else, and he would understand not only what saying that out loud meant to her, but that it was a confession.

"How can I?" He whispered, his voice hoarse and not from lust. "I finally have you."

He kissed her, long and slow, and there was so much simple love in that kiss that it nearly caused tears to spill over her cheeks.

"I love you, I want you, please Rick, I need you… please love me…" Beckett's voice was breathy, the words coming out as moans.

His response was all that she could hope for and all that she needed.

"Always."

He began again, pumping into her, and they moved liked they'd been doing this their entire lives. Beckett was at the top of the mountain, and then her body was flinging itself off and she was flying, soaring, her entire body made up of delicious weightless euphoria.

When she finally glided back to earth, Beckett found herself cuddling with Castle, her nose nuzzling his neck, his strong arms around her. While adventurous in bed, Beckett had always been averse to cuddling (something that dismayed pretty much all of her boyfriends) but with Castle, it was different. Everything was different with him.

Beckett realized he was writing words on her back, and she smiled as she repeated them out loud.

"My muse."

She felt Castle's smile and he began to write a different set of words.

"My goddess."

Her throat tightened at the wonderful, loving things he was telling her.

"My love."

He was etching them into her skin, marking her as if with a branding iron, searing the words into her memory.

"My always."

Beckett felt like crying. The emotion was overwhelming, a mixture of joy and sadness and wonder and excitement and so many others that she couldn't even name. This was too much, this was filling her up and spilling out of her, this was love.

"I love you, Kate," Castle whispered.

"I love you too," she whispered back, swallowing. "More than I could ever say."

And, like he understood everything else about her, she knew that Castle understood this.

* * *

Beckett knew she'd be doing the walk of shame the next morning. She'd done it before, especially during her "wild child" phase, but she'd never run into anyone else doing it. She'd never bumped into another college girl on her way out of the apartment, or reminded someone in the elevator that their buttons were on weird.

She'd certainly never have expected to be doing the walk of shame with her lover's  _daughter_.

Castle had been sleeping soundly, but Beckett was used to early mornings and had crept out of the room in order to get some coffee going and maybe even make breakfast. She'd been wearing nothing but a button-front shirt she'd snagged from Castle's bedroom floor--the same one she'd ripped off of him last night, actually--and her discarded black thong.

When she'd entered the kitchen, she'd been met with the sight of Alexis, red hair disheveled, flipping pancakes on the griddle. The girl had one, no, two hickeys on her neck, those were definitely boy boxers she was wearing, and no one could mistake that glow for anything other than post-sex bliss.

Beckett had been able to do nothing for a good minute except stare. She was pretty sure her mouth was open, too.

Alexis turned, humming with a dreamy smile on her face, and caught sight of Beckett. She didn't drop the plate of pancakes, thankfully, but her eyes bulged and her mouth fell open. If anyone had been watching they would have laughed at the similarity of their expressions.

"Kate! I didn't… I thought… I was hoping…" Alexis set the plate down on the island with one hand while the other gestured helplessly.

"You were hoping we went back to my place?" Beckett teased, walking over to the island and sitting down.

"No! No, I mean, I was hoping that you'd… um…" Alexis couldn't hide her blush. She'd expected her dad and Kate to come back and do the dirty (no one could miss the sound of the front door crashing open), but she'd been hoping that they'd be so busy that night that they wouldn't wake up until much, much later.

"I'm an early riser. Is Emmett still here?" Beckett asked. She hoped he wasn't. If Castle saw him there'd be blood.

"No, he left around four in the morning. He's going to tell Benny he spent the night doing street art; he sneaks out and does it all the time, so she won't know."

"If he looks anything like you, Alexis, she'll know."

Alexis blushed again. "So, uh, you want pancakes?" She asked.

Beckett smiled and grabbed a fork from the pile of silverware Alexis had set out. "You bet."

They chewed in silence for a moment before Beckett spoke. "How was it? Live up to your expectations?"

Alexis gave a tiny smile and nodded. "It was different than I expected, but only in that it was more real," she said, her words tumbling out nervously and eagerly. "We joked about the condom, and discussed positions, and it was so awkward at times, but…" She bit her lip, and then looked up at Beckett and her entire face split into a grin. "But it was absolutely amazing."

Beckett smiled. She reached across and squeezed Alexis' hand, so happy to be sharing this moment with her, to know that Alexis trusted her enough to share it. "I'm glad, honey, I really am."

Alexis felt like her face would crack from smiling so much. She was immeasurably happy to have someone to share this with.

"I'd ask how it was for you, but this is my dad we're talking about, so…" Alexis trailed off, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

Beckett laughed. "I'll spare you the details," she assured her. "But it was good."

"Better than the others?" Alexis asked. Kate had filled her in on her previous, ahem, adventures, during their lunch the other day.

Beckett nodded. "By far, the best." She gave a mock sigh. "I guess I'll just have to stick around, then."

Alexis jumped up from her seat and hugged Kate as tightly as she possibly could. Kate didn't even hesitate to hug her back, squeezing her gently. After a moment, Alexis pulled back. They didn't even have to talk--they understood what the other was feeling.

"How did the protection work out?" Beckett asked, her smile becoming devilish.

"Oh, it worked out quite well. Awesome recommendation." Alexis winked.

There was the sound of movement in Castle's bedroom, and Alexis whipped around. "I, uh, need to, um…"

"I'll help you get changed," Beckett assured her. "I need to borrow some yoga pants or something anyway."

"Got it." Alexis nodded earnestly.

The two of them dashed upstairs as quickly as they could without making any noise. When Castle entered the kitchen fifteen minutes later, his daughter was dressed in a lovely ensemble, while Beckett was wearing borrowed yoga pants and a Stanford t-shirt that Alexis had accidentally gotten a size too large.

"And how are my two beauties this morning?" Castle asked, hugging Alexis. "What have you two been up to?"

"Just making pancakes and talking," Beckett said, giving him a peck on the cheek.

Their matching innocent looks betrayed nothing. Alexis shot Beckett a triumphant look, and Beckett winked at her. Yes, they were going to make a great team.

Now, if Alexis could just convince Beckett to let her borrow her handcuffs…


End file.
